The Time Child: Home For Christmas
by DanniFielding
Summary: "They want the Doctor? Let's give them the Doctor. We have three right here, I'm sure we can get more!" One-off special with my OC, Danni Fielding. Probably won't make any sense unless you've read the rest of the stories with her in. 11/OC, 12/OC
1. Chapter 1

_Hello Everyone! Welcome to my Christmas fic, which has nothing really to do with Christmas but seemed like a good time to post it. There'll be another chapter on New Years Day, and then possibly one more, but that depends. Definitely one of New Years, though XD_

_This is meant to be a bit silly, a lot of people may seem a bit OOC but I've tried my best, there's a lot of 'characters' in here I'm not used to writing. But it was an idea I thought of one night when I couldn't sleep so I thought, 'Hey, why not?'_

_So, enjoy. Leave a review if you want to. I'd very much appreciate it XD_

_~0~0~0~_

Everyone he talked to assumed he hated these tours. That sitting for hours on end, signing picture after to picture for what appeared to be a never-ending queue of people dressed up in costumes would drive him into some form of dumb stupor, but the fact was Peter Capaldi couldn't have been happier. He'd never tired of little children looking up at him with bright eyes, dressed up in his costume and calling him 'Doctor'. He'd never tired of the questions eager fans asked about storylines, sets and acting. He'd never tired of being announced as 'Peter Capaldi, currently playing The Doctor'. Because he was, he was _The Doctor_.

He'd been absolutely delighted by the little girl wearing the costume of the predecessor telling him how even though she liked Matt Smith's Doctor the best, she thought he was a doing a good job 'looking after him now he was gone' and that he was now her second favourite Doctor. She'd said it so kindly, just to make sure he knew that it meant an awful lot to be given such a high-ranking title that he'd bowed his head, promising he'd keep up the good work for her. Her mum had to take her by the hand and practically drag her off, but she waved the entire time she was walking away, smiling from ear to ear.

A poster of him and Jenna appeared on the table in front of him. It was just one of the generic promotional pictures with him posing and Jenna looking amused. It was a lovely picture of them, perhaps he should get himself one. He looked up, his intent to ask the person their name and how they were when the words died off his lips.

The young woman in front of him and shoulder-length red hair and bright, blue-grey eyes and she was smiling happily at him.

"Danni?" Peter breathed, utterly amazed and her brows furrowed in surprise as she nodded.

"Yes, actually." She replied slowly and he stood up, hands on the table as he leant closer.

"Danielle Fielding?" He asked urgently, needing her to confirm it, "Danni-Girl? The Time Child?"

"Oh!" She replied, realisation replacing the confusion, "Has someone told you about the fanfic? Oh, that's rather embarrassing…" He shook his head, looking her over again. She was wearing a plain blue dress with a black cardigan, black tights and matching blue flat shoes. Classic Danni, she adored blue dresses. She should have been blonde.

"You… regenerated." He mumbled to himself, "How are you even here?" She stared at him, eyes wide and with a strange look of panic on her face.

"How did you know that?" She whispered, "I'm not even close to writing that yet." He glanced around, seeing that people were starting to talk. He sat back down, picking up his pen and scribbling on the picture as quick as he could.

"Meet me here tomorrow at 12." He told her lowly, "I'll explain, but I can't here." She nodded, taking the photo and doing the unthinkable, folding it up and putting it in her pocket. She then walked off and he watched her, still slightly dazed as she was immediately set upon by a group of teenage girls who had heard him mention her name.

"Are you really Danni Fielding?" One asked excitedly and Danni nodded slowly, smiling nervously.

"Yeah, I am." She replied.

"Oh my god, you're amazing!" Another one gushed.

"We're massive fans of your fanfic." One with brown hair replied, "I can't believe it's going to end soon."

"Does she really die?" Another asked, "I don't want her to, she needs to be with her Theta forever." Danni smiled sadly, looking over at Peter Capaldi, the spitting image of her husband. He was the only reason she was here, she'd just wanted to see him again.

"She does, I'm afraid." She broke to them gently, before turning to them and smiling, "But I share your sentiments. They should always be together."

"Then why are you breaking them up?" One of the girls asked, dressed up in an outfit Danni didn't recognise, but she'd guess some sort of anime character.

"Because not every story has a happy ending." She explained, "The Doctor and Danni are never destined to be with each other forever." She smiled, "But thanks for reading, I'm always so surprised people care."

"Of course we care!" A couple exclaimed before giggling at themselves.

"Danni just seems so real." Another explained, "How do you do that? My OC's are always so… ugh, flat." Danni shrugged, still smiling.

"That's because she is." She replied.

_~0~0~0~_

Oh it hurt. It hurt so badly, Danni's insides felt like they'd been put in a mixer then put back inside her. She was in so much pain it felt like her hearts were beating in synchronisation, like there was only one there. That was the last time she touched the TARDIS console, no matter how many times he tried to get her to 'get involved' with the maintenance.

"Oh my god, Danni!" A female voice yelled in panic, something shattering and her eyes shot open. She was in a front room, evidently, not the console room. She sat up, her head spinning slightly, had the TARDIS shot her somewhere else? She couldn't focus with the bright light, so she squeezed them shut again.

"Clara?" She asked, "Did I get transported into your bedroom? Again?"

"Clara?" The voice asked, "No, it's me Danni. Claire?" That had Danni's eyes shooting open, the face of her university friend Claire staring back down at her, worried.

"Claire?" She exclaimed, coughing as her breath caught in her chest, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"It's my house?" Claire replied slowly. Danni's head shot from side to side, taking in the room again. It really was Claire's room and that really was Claire. She grabbed her hair, seeing the red she had not seen since she'd died.

"What the hell…" She breathed, standing up and swaying slightly. Claire yelled, catching her before she fell.

"You shouldn't move." Claire admonished gently, "That stupid toy gave you such an electric shock, that's the last time I buy anything off of Ebay."

"That's not right." Danni protested as she let Claire sit her on the sofa, "I need… I need to find the Doctor."

_~0~0~0~_

But it had been right. The Vortex Manipulator had been a toy, she had no wedding ring, or black transporter band. There was no TARDIS key, and she was still 22. She couldn't ring him because she didn't have his number, and even if she did it most likely wouldn't have worked. Across time was one thing, universes was quite another. She'd completely reverted back to how she would have been had she just been knocked out by the manipulator.

She didn't understand. The memories were real, she _had_ gone into another universe and the fact that she was back absolutely devastated her. Every night she watched the sky, looking for a little blue box. She'd had therapy, she'd quit university then gone back again. Nothing had changed, everything fell back into the same old pattern that she had always followed and it filled her with such a sense of mundanely she wasn't sure if she could survive it, let alone anything else.

So, partly to keep herself sane and partly so she didn't forget, Danni began to write down her time with the Doctor, posting it online so there would always be a copy of it. She hadn't expected anyone to really give it a second glance but, actually, it picked up quite a following. So much so that when she'd walked away from Peter Capaldi, bewildered but strangely filled with hope, the group of teenagers that had met her hadn't been the first that day. She was amazed people found her story interesting, but they did. They wanted details, stuff that she didn't write down, stuff she'd not even thought about.

They wanted to know about their sex life. That was a bit weird.

Nothing was as weird, though, as the look on Peter Capaldi's face as he recognised her instantly. He _knew_. Somehow he had known she had jumped to the Doctor, he'd even known she regenerated and absolutely no one knew that but her.

She sat down at the small desk in her budget hotel room, flattening the folded picture to have a look at the address that Peter had scrawled down on the picture. It wasn't too far from the hotel, according to Google Maps, but it meant she had to miss the next day of Comic Con. Never mind. This was more important.

She absentmindedly rubbed the large burn scar on her arm. Almost three years ago and it was the only thing she had left from her travels. No one knew where it came from but her, no one would ever believe her. But it reassured her that it had all happened, and that he was coming for her.

The Doctor had promised.

_~0~0~0~_

The moment he'd gotten a break, Peter was on the phone. He'd hidden in the corner of the back room designated for the stars to get away from the general public, huddling away from the couple other guests as he impatiently listened to the ringing.

"_Hello!_" The voice on the other side greeted, sounding rightfully surprised.

"Matt?" Peter replied, "Sorry to ring you without warning or anything."

"_No problem at all_." Matt replied, the younger man was always so polite, "_What's up?"_

"Are you anywhere near London?" He asked, getting straight to the point as his leg jiggled in anxious energy.

"_Yeah…"_ Matt replied slowly, obviously confused, "_For a few days. Why?"_

"I found her." Peter told him, "Danni, she's here." There was a long pause as Matt processed this information.

"_No, that can't be right."_ He declared.

"It was her." Peter insisted, "She's back to her first body, but she knew about the regeneration. She's Danni, the _actual_ Danni. I'm meeting her for lunch tomorrow."

"_She shouldn't even be here."_ Matt protested, "_If she's really Danni…_"

"Then why is she back here? I know, that's why I'm meeting her." Peter interrupted, "She shouldn't be here, should she?" He didn't think she came back, not to his knowledge anyway.

"_I don't think so."_ Matt replied just as unsure as Peter felt, "_She didn't during my run, it'll be you she's up to. You know what this means, though, don't you?_"

"Yeah." Peter sighed, "The Doctor's coming."

_~0~0~0~_

Matt agreed to come to meet her for lunch, but he wasn't sure if he could make it there at 12, which meant Peter had to meet her own his own. He'd instinctively chosen a small Italian restaurant, knowing she loved spaghetti bolognaise more than any other food. He fidgeted in his chair nervously, checking his watch even though he was early to begin with.

He caught sight of her first as she entered the restaurant, wearing a different but still blue dress, the front of her hair pulled back and slightly heeled shoes on. If he'd had any doubts she was Danni, they were gone as she sat across from him, smiling nervously but brightly as she always would.

"Thanks for meeting me." He started with something simple and she nodded, looking around, her hands in between her knees.

"It's a lovely place." She replied, "I love Italian."

"Especially spaghetti bolognaise." He replied and her head shot back, eyes wide.

"Yes, actually." She declared, "How did you know that?"

"It's going to sound… well, it is just plain bizarre." He explained.

"I was shot around universes and now write fanfiction about it." She retorted, "I think I'll be fine." He laughed, nodding.

"You make a good point." He replied, "Okay, I'll just get on with it. You see, when Russell first wrote Rose, everything was fine. Christopher was on board, Billie loved the script, everything was fine. At least until Mark Gatiss wrote The Unquiet Dead."

"That was the first episode I landed in." She admitted and he nodded.

"I know. The night after they'd all read it, Russell dreamt of this red headed girl in it. He didn't mention it, he just brushed it off as a dream. Then, one day, Russell heard Billie mention her to one of the makeup lasses. Turns out that they'd _all_ dreamt about her. It carried on into David, then Matt and…" He smiled softly, "And then me. Not just the episodes, either. I know about how he took you to Central Park, despite the fact the Weeping Angels were there." She stared at him, understandably looking sceptical.

"So, you all just dream about me?" She asked slowly, "At the same time?" He nodded.

"I was warned about it." He told her, smiling at the memory of one of his last talks with Matt before they'd filmed the regeneration scene. He'd had the strange dream about a girl he'd never seen before in his life, but the fact that he had wasn't surprising. After all, he was going to play _the Doctor_ and, well, dreams were supposed to be weird.

Then Matt had mentioned her, described her perfectly and explained everything. Her name was Danni-Girl and he married the Doctor. Sometimes she was ginger, sometimes she was blonde and she could be at various points of her own time line, but not to be too weirded out if they were… well, it didn't mean anything because it was her and the Doctor, not Peter. He'd thought it was a joke, but then it'd happened again. And again.

"So you all know about me?" Danni asked, "Everything that happened to me? The Silence? River? Koschei?" He nodded and she slumped back into her chair, looking slightly shell shocked.

"This must be quite a lot to handle." He remarked gently. She didn't reply, her eyes darting around as she thought about it.

"You knew she regenerated." Danni whispered, "No one knows that, _no one_. I wanted to keep it a surprise, so I've not told a soul." She went to run a hand through her hair, then remembered it was up and stopped mid brush back, "Wow." Then she jolted, leaning across the table, looking at him hopefully, "Do you know when he's coming for me?" She asked urgently, "He is coming for me, right?" He smiled apologetically.

"I don't, sorry." He told her and she deflated in disappointment, "But that doesn't mean he isn't. He'd do anything for you, crossing universes is nothing." She smiled softly, nodding.

"I miss him." She whispered, "I…" She giggled nervously, "I only came to Comic Con to see you. It's not the same, but you're pretty close to a perfect match. You play him wonderfully."

"I'll take that as a compliment from the only person who's actually met him." He replied cheekily and she grinned.

"I am, aren't I?" She commented. She sat up a bit straighter, leaning on the table, "You know, he wouldn't ever understand why you'd choose to be him, but then he'd be totally amused watching you because you do it so wonderfully. Like that monologue in Flatline, he'd be glued to his seat then decide to do them more often."

"Really?" He asked and she nodded eagerly.

"Oh, totally." She looked thoughtful for a moment, "Then again, I don't think he'd appreciate us being in a restaurant together. Twelve was incredibly possessive at times."

"Oh I know, poor Adrian." Peter commented and they laughed. Over her head he spotted Matt enter, looking around expectantly, "I have a surprise for you." He told her with a smug look and she frowned in confused.

"What?" She asked and he nodded pointedly over her head. She pushed up in her chair, turning to see Matt Smith staring at her in shock and her mouth broke out into a huge smile. "Matt!"

_~0~0~0~_

They'd sat there for a couple of hours, both men asking her about the man they'd played so joyfully, questions varying between clarifying information to them asking her about non-aired trips and times they remembered dreaming about.

"Seriously?" Matt asked, leaning across the table to her, "Did he really marry the Princess of the Twilight Forests?" She nodded, finishing the sip of her red wine as she did.

"He always had this habit of getting married." She explained, "There was the Queen, and the Princess, and the chieftain's daughter on Rosarena, and you can't forget River. And then there was the priest on that planet… what was it called…" She looked thoughtful for a moment before pointing at him with her glass, "Oh, I think it was called Kepurnica, or something. There was this lovely lad who turned out to be the priest. The Doctor thought it would be nice to crash his birthday party, but it was some claiming ceremony they had and… well, yeah." She took another sip of her wine, "That was one of his nicer weddings, but you can see why I didn't quite believe it when he first proposed to me." Matt leant back on his chair, sharing a look with Peter.

"This is bizarre." He declared, "I mean, there has been times when I thought you were real, but… wow…" She giggled.

"I do have that effect on people." She agreed as a waiter slowly approached the table, looking back at his other colleagues who were urging him closer, "Oh look, you have fans." She teased them as he stood by their table, shifting on the spot.

"Hello, I just…" He stuttered, "We're all really big fans of yours, of the pair of you. Doctor Who is one of my favourite shows." Matt and Peter both managed to pull off completely different looking patient smiles, both still managing to look sympathetic but nothing alike.

"Thank you very much." Matt replied and the waiter nodded.

"The thing was, I was hoping, we all were really… What's with the Daleks?" He asked it eagerly, as if he was really hoping for a response but both men just looked confused.

"Sorry, 'The Daleks'?" Peter asked, looking for clarification and the waiter nodded.

"The ones that have appeared all over the country yesterday?" He reminded them, "I think it's advertising for the next series, but Sophie," he pointed towards the group, "She's the one with black hair, she thinks that it might mean something's going to the cinema."

"Have you," Danni started, waving her hand slightly, "Oh, I'm Danni by the way, but have you got the clip?" The waiter shook his head.

"No, but it's on YouTube." He told her. She turned to the two actors as she stood up.

"We need to get to my hotel room, I've got my laptop there." She told them before smiling at the waiter, "One of my esteemed male friends here will pay the bill, thanks for being a fan of the Doctor."

"Why do we have to go?" Matt asked, confused and Danni put both of her hands on the table as she leant in closer, pulling the two men in with her actions.

"Because, if it was a 'Who' thing, you," she pointed at Peter, "would know about it."

"It still could be someone else." He reasoned and she shook her head, grabbing her bag from the floor.

"The same day I meet up with you? Not a chance." She chucked it over her shoulder, "One thing I learnt from the Doctor was to never ignore a coincident."

"Unless you're busy." Matt recited, looking rather proud of himself, "In which case, always ignore a coincidence." Danni paused as she opened her mouth to reply to him. She'd never done 'The Pandorica Opens', having jumped to the end of Big Bang Two, so she'd hadn't been there for that line. But the fact a man who looked exactly like her husband, apart from the lack of hair, who sounded exactly like her husband saying something her husband would totally say actually made her heart speed up for a moment, the hope that it was him there for too long to be sane.

"But we're not busy, are we?" She retorted, "Pay up, Spaceman." In unison the two men reached into their pockets for their wallets, pulling their cards out and staring at each other in surprise.

_~0~0~0~_

Danni sat down in front of her laptop, YouTube open and ready as she typed in the very generic 'Doctor Who Daleks' before sorting it by date uploaded. Sure enough, video after video was returned, some with News Stations logos on them, some looked like they were recorded on camera phones but all depicted pretty much the same scene. She loaded one from BBC News, it seemed natural to her, and she leant back as the two men crouched to see the screen better.

"For over 50 years, the Doctor has been gracing our screens, taking on foes from the terrifying to the downright bizarre." The male news anchor started.

"But today it would seem it is our turn." The female anchor finished, "Only half an hour ago, all across the UK, the Doctor's greatest nemesis, the Daleks, appeared."

"What some people are already calling the greatest marketing ploy in the last year lasted only a few minutes, but we have some exclusive footage from the Invasion of Birmingham." The screen changed, another reporter appearing and Danni quickly dragged the play bar until a Dalek appeared. There was seven of the robots, all surrounded by humans taking pictures from near and far.

"_We are the Daleks."_ One declared in its tinny voice.

"_We want the Doctor."_ Another replied.

"_You will help us retrieve him."_

"_How?"_ Someone shouted and the crowd laughed. One Dalek spun, spotting the man that had shouted and shot at him, the man illuminating in a blue light, his skeleton showing before he dropped to the ground. Danni and the crowd gasped at the same time, but while the red-head stayed horrified at the scene, the crowd clapped and cheered at the illusion they'd just seen.

The clip ended quickly, going back to the news room. Danni reached up, shutting the lid and cutting the entire video short, leaning back in her chair.

"That's not us." Peter declared, confused, "At least, I don't think it is. I'm sure _someone_ would have mentioned it to me."

"It's not you." Danni agreed, "That's actual Daleks." She ran her hand through her hair, pulling out the hairband holding the small strands back and shaking it out, "Actual Daleks in a universe that will not believe they're real. That will want to take _selfies_ with it. They're all sitting ducks."

"How do you know?" Matt asked and she shot him a look.

"I've seen them kill enough people to know when one is real or not." She pointed out, "That man died, and they all cheered. How did they not notice?"

"They would have thought he was a stooge." Peter replied, "They're actual Daleks?" Danni nodded.

"I came through, it makes sense they could follow. Or even fall, I still have no idea what happened. Maybe they're unrelated, I have no idea." She rambled, "A universe that believes you're a fictional character is a universe at your mercy. They're going to decimate the planet before they've even started!"

"Well, you've fought them, you must have some idea how to stop them." Peter pointed out as Matt sat on the bed, looking slightly overwhelmed.

"I never fought them." She retorted, "That was the Doctor, it was always him. He's the smart one, I'm just there to keep him company." She turned in her chair, "I'm useless against them."

"You're not useless." Matt corrected, Danni shifting so she could see him, "I've seen you fight your way through years of jumping and dying, you fought of the Silence. And you put up with him when he regenerated." He motioned to Peter, who looked slightly indignant, "At the very least, you've spent the last age soaking up the Doctor and how he works. He believes in you, no matter what you think." She smiled softly, amazed how he seemed just like her husband and nothing like him at the same time. Even his calm, soft voice was reassuring, she could imagine her Theta saying the same things to her, telling her she'd think of something.

But expecting her to think like the Doctor? There was no way she could do that. There was no one who knew what flew around in his head when he was thinking up a plan.

She straightened slightly, mouth falling into a 'o' of realisation as she stared at Matt. He looked at Peter, who had also seen her think of something that might actually help them, "What is it?" He asked.

"I have no idea how the Doctor's mind works." She told them bluntly, making both of them question whether or not she had actually thought of something helpful, "You only know he exists because you play him. You're given scripts, and you see them in your dreams, right?" They both nodded slowly, "But the stories have to come from somewhere, don't they? The way it happened for me and the Doctor isn't the same as it happens here, not completely. Things are changed, people are killed her who are saved, whole adventures are hinted at but are never written down. Someone has to make that decision, there's someone who knows the Doctor better than anyone else in this universe, and I don't think it's me."

"Steven." Peter stated and she nodded in confirmation, "He has final say. He knows all of the stories."

Matt nodded in agreement, "He always knew the details of anything before I'd even managed to finish my side."

"He'll be able to work it out." Danni explained, "He'll know all that nonsense the Doctor spouts when he pretends he's actually explaining something to me. Even if he doesn't understand it, there must be something in there we can use!"

_~0~0~0~_

Steven Moffat sighed angrily to himself, resisting the urge to slam his keyboard down in frustration. His mobile was ringing _again,_ for the umpteenth time that day alone and it was all because someone had taken the Daleks and used them without permission. He wasn't sure how many times he could tell the execs at the Beeb that he really had no idea what had happened!

He reached over, it wasn't like he was doing anything important, anyway. Sure he was writing, it was all he seemed to do these days, but none of this was useable. The Doctor running around looking for a character that didn't even appear in the show was useless. But he had learnt from experience that if he didn't write it down he'd never be able to progress onto anything productive.

"Hello?" He asked, not even checking who was on the other end. He bit out the greeting, what was the point of being polite when he knew they weren't going to offer in return.

"_Steven?_" The unmistakable voice of Peter Capaldi replied, obviously needing to clarify because he wasn't expecting such as violent response.

"Peter?" Steven asked in response, "I'm sorry, mate. I've been up to my eyeballs in idiots calling and asking me if I had anything to do with this bloody Dalek stunt. I'm sick of saying no." He paused for a moment, realising that might be why Peter was ringing the first place, "We're not, by the way."

"_I know."_ Peter told him, "_Listen; are you at home_?" Steven frowned.

"Yeah, why?"

"_Me and Matt will be there in a moment_." Peter explained, "_We think we know what's going on._" Steven sighed in relief.

"Oh thank the Lord." He replied, "Think you can talk to the BBC about it?"

"_I don't think this is something we can tell them_." Peter said slowly. There was some angry muttering in the background and Steven began to really wonder what was going on, "_No, they're not going to believe it, are they_?" He told the annoyed person as the doorbell rang, "_No, you can't speak to him, we're here now!"_

Steven headed for the front door, now more apprehensive than anything as the line went dead. What was going on with the world? Had he missed out on some prank and this was just a part of it? He opened it to see both Matt and Peter stood there. Matt gave him his typical soft wave, a small movement of his hand in the air, while Peter just nodded. Even in real life they seemed so different, that's why he'd wanted Peter as the new regeneration.

"What the hell is going on?" Steven asked the pair.

"Now, don't panic." Matt reassured him, worrying him even further, "This is very much real."

"What's real?" Steven asked and through the middle of the pair stepped a girl he'd seen all too often, with bright red hair and a sheepish smile.

"Hi, I'm Danni." She introduced as he felt his mouth fall open in shock, "I believe you might have heard of me."

_~0~0~0~_

Steven paced in his front room, shaking his head and muttering to himself. He occasionally looked up at Danni, would shake his head then go back to pacing.

"You can't be here!" He insisted, "Even if you're supposed to be real, you're supposed to be in the other universe! That's why you've been plaguing my writing efforts for the last age!" Danni sat up straighter.

"Yeah, about that." She replied, "Why am I not in the series? Was I not good enough so you wrote me out?"

"Russell says you didn't start to appear until after the first series was written." Steven dismissed before shaking his head, "Nope, not happening. You're not her." She sighed.

"I am Danielle Fielding. I'm married to the Doctor and I'm trapped in this universe when I should be with him." She snapped as she stood up, walking over, "You'd better bloody believe me, because the Daleks have followed and we need to stop them!"

"Hang on a moment!" Steven exclaimed, "They're actually Daleks?" She nodded.

"Yes, they are, and you're the only one who can help stop them!" She explained, "Now get your head in the game and tell us how the Doctor would fix this!"

"He's _your_ husband." Steven replied snidely, "Shouldn't you know what he'd do?" She growled, getting very angry very quickly and she reached out, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and shoving him backwards until he hit the wall.

"You listen to me, Moffat." Danni snarled, "I'm not letting the Daleks destroy another world in his name because you're being a twat. Tell me now, or I'll rip your eyeballs out of your sockets!"

"Woah, Danni!" Matt grabbed her and pulled her off as she glared daggers at the writer, "There's no need for that."

"There's _Daleks_ and he doesn't care!" She screeched, "I need to stop them, they can't destroy another planet! Not when they're looking for the Doctor, if he ever found out it'd destroy him!"

"Daleks don't exist." Steven insisted, "_You_ don't exist. This is stress, it must be."

"Don't you dare," She snapped, pointing at him angrily, "Don't you _dare_ say I don't exist. Have you any idea what it's like to find out your entire _life_ might be a lie? That you can't tell a soul the wonders you've seen because they _won't believe you._" She jabbed him in the chest, making him yell out in indignation, "My name is Danielle Fielding. I'm the bloody Time Child and you will not dismiss me." He looked down at the finger still poking him hard, amazed at how much realer it felt than her grabbing him by his shirt. The continued pressure in the middle of his ribs stayed there even as her shouting stopped.

Matt shared a little smirk with Peter as they watched Steven go over everything in his head, trying to decide if he believed what was happening in front of him. Both he and Peter knew, though, that Danni wouldn't back down when she wanted to be heard. They all got slightly different views of her, Steven just got the overall story, like an episode, whereas the 'Doctors', especially himself and Peter, got much more personal looks at the world and at Danni.

"The Daleks?" Steven finally asked and Danni moved her hand, sagging in relief even with the grave look on her face.

"The Daleks." She confirmed, "You don't need to understand it, but if you can tell us what you'd have the Doctor do, perhaps it could be replicated."

"Wait, you want me to write like this is an episode?" He asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"But I can't do that." He protested, "Not in so little time."

"I know you can do it." She insisted, "You're brilliant, it's all jammy dodgers then saving the day." He began pacing backwards and forwards, much like he had done when they'd first entered the room.

"It takes time to get it right!" He exclaimed, "The setting, the story, the science mumbo jumbo comes last and I can't get to that right now."

"You have the story and the setting. This is the last part, so why not?" Danni asked.

"Because he's too busy looking for you!"

_~0~0~0~_

_Clara entered the flat, chucking her bag on the sofa before deciding to join it, flopping onto the cushions with a satisfied sigh. Another week over, and yes she had marking and lesson plans to complete, but she also had an incredibly comfy sofa and her best friend to keep her company._

_A friend, she guessed, was in the shower. She knew it was selfish, but she really was enjoying Danni living with her. Having someone to come home to, who was interesting in your day but then would distract you by being so innocently demanding was a dream, if not slightly exhausting._

_Of course, sharing the bed was a bit of a pain, but she couldn't let Danni sleep on the incredibly comfy couch. _

"_Nice day, sweetie?" Danni asked, coming out of the bedroom, hair still slightly damp from the shower she'd definitely had._

"_It's over." Clara replied with her eyes closed, "I like that it's over." Danni giggled, sitting down in the small space between the sofa arm and her head._

"_Want me to cook tea?" She offered and Clara opened her eyes, staring up at Danni like she was the best thing ever to happen to her._

"_You're a saint." She replied and Danni nodded, looking smug._

"_I know." She crowed, jumping up again, "I think spaghetti!" She headed to the kitchen._

"_Of course you do." Clara whispered fondly in reply. If it was up to Danni, she'd eat spaghetti for every meal for the rest of her lives. No one really knew what her obsession with the long bits of pasta stemmed from, she'd have it with anything at all. But she loved it, and it made Clara happy to see her happy._

_That had been very hard to explain to Danny Pink, but he understood. She thought so, anyway. He seemed more reassured by it when she promised she'd fallen for him before finding out his name._

_Danni pushed the door to the kitchen open, about to step in when they both heard it. The unmistakable sound of the TARDIS landing in the hallway. Clara shot up so she was sat on the sofa, looking in its direction almost in dread._

"_I didn't think he was coming this week." Clara stated._

"_That's what he said." Danni replied, "Doctor?" She called and he stepped into the room, looking at the two with that vague look of distain that he used to look at everyone._

"_What are you two doing?" He asked them, "You don't even look remotely ready."_

"_Ready?" Clara asked, "Ready for what?"_

"_Following the message, of course." He retorted like they should have already known why he was there._

"_I thought you weren't coming this week." Danni reminded him gently. She sounded hurt, not because he'd turned up, but at the memory that he'd said he wasn't going to in the first place._

"_This seemed more important than some silly little thing I'd said years ago." He dismissed, although neither of the women knew where he'd gotten 'years' from, "It's a message being broadcast in Gallifreyan." He reminded them. Clara scrambled off the sofa, joining Danni as they made their way to him._

"_Gallifreyan?" She repeated, "As in, from Gallifrey?" He smirked, his eyebrows raising in smugness._

"_You weren't busy, were you?" He asked the pair. Danni took his hand, her hearts jolting slightly as he didn't let go._

"_Let's go, Spaceman!" She cried, "Spaghetti can wait!" He rolled his eyes as they all rushed to the TARDIS. Being a gentleman, he held the door open and the two women rushed inside._

"_Again? Danielle, I have taken you across the wonders of the universe and yet you still insist on eating that bland mush." He scolded._

"_I like spaghetti!" She defended, turning around so she was walking up the console backwards, "So, where's it coming from?"_

"_It originated in Sicily…"_

"_Not the pasta, the signal." Clara interrupted casually, knowing he was just doing it to tease Danni. She looked so excited, and Clara couldn't blame her. Danni had never been to the Time Lord home world, well, not that she could remember anyway. She'd always wanted to be able to share something from that part of her parentage with the Doctor._

"_Oh, well, we're about to find out." The Doctor replied, chucking a large switch that seemed foreign on his TARDIS console._

"_Where did that come from?" Danni asked him, wrapping her arms around his, hugging it excitedly to her body. Apparently she didn't recognise it either._

"_I installed it before I came to pick you up. It's a bit undignified, but it gets the job done." He grumbled, "Still looks like a child made it." It reminded Danni of something Eleven would have added, which is probably where the 'child' comment came from. Probably why she thought it looked just fine as well, she just couldn't understand why he didn't seem to like his Eleventh self._

_Nothing happened. Well, nothing seemed to happen. They all stood there for a few moments before Clara turned to the Doctor, frowning._

"_Is it supposed to not do anything?" She asked him and he shot her an annoyed look._

"_It is doing something." He snapped, "It's tracking a small broadcast across the entirety of time and space. I'm sorry if that's not impressive enough for you."_

"_I think what she means is that we don't seem to be following the broadcast." Danni reassured him, "If she's going to take a little bit of time, why did you rush us here?"_

"_So I could do this." He retorted, turning and pulling her up against him. Clara groaned, turning away as he buried his hand into Danni's blonde hair, kissing her soundly. _

"_Still not a snogbox!" Clara exclaimed but neither of them seemed to notice, but then again they never did. Not that she minded quite as much as she let on, that little part of her from the Doctor just loving the fact that Danni still wanted him despite the regeneration._

_Didn't mean she had to see it, though. At least the Doctor had started to let Danni go enough for them to lock any doors. She loved Danni and everything, but… nope. No need for that._

_The TARDIS jolted, a sharp motion she rarely made these days now she had a Doctor who didn't seem to rush her around like a boy racer. The column started wheezing and the Doctor let go of Danni to turn to the console, beginning to pilot her._

"_Where are we heading?" Danni asked excitedly, her hearts pounding in her chest with glee. If this really was the Time Lords, if she was really going to see Gallifrey in the flesh, even in the middle of the Time War, she didn't think she could handle it. The Doctor spun something, Danni had long given up wondering what he was doing, then reached out and took her hand, sensing her anxiousness._

"_We seem to be heading towards where Gallifrey used to reside." He told her as the TARDIS made a loud groan of protest before slamming into something. Immediately the Doctor took hold of Danni, letting himself slam into console to cushion her as Clara fell onto her backside._

"_What the hell was that?" She exclaimed as she tried to pull herself up, falling back down as they seemed to crash into something else._

"_I don't know." The Doctor replied, teeth clenched from the pain in his side, "Hold on tight, Danielle." She nodded, not complaining about his short tone as she let go and moved to the railings. She knew he was just worried, he didn't want her to get hurt and the last thing she needed to do at that moment was distract him by arguing. Clara joined her side as the Doctor wrestled with the TARDIS controls, trying to pull the time machine back under his control._

_He shouted in surprise, covering his face with his arm as he turned away, the console sparking violently. Behind him Danni screamed in her own surprise and he saw her fall through the railings. He let the momentum throw him in the right direction, dangling over the railing to see her rolling slightly on the floor below. It wasn't very far and she was cursing very loudly, which was always a good sign. His hearts slowed down the moment he physically saw that she was alright._

_The doors opened, they tipped and he screamed her name as she fell straight out into a flash outside._

_~0~0~0~_

_Clara couldn't really comfort him. He sat in one of his armchairs, eyes closed and looking like his whole world had crashed and burned around him. She slowly approached him, trying to be as quiet as possible as she walked up the stairs onto the gangway._

_They'd been everywhere. All across the universe, picking up anyone who might be able to help. Jack and River were currently together somewhere in the 74__th__ century, a woman called Martha had all of UNIT on the case as they'd been flying from the 21__st__ century when she'd fallen._

_She and the Doctor had continued to follow the signal, which had come to a point before scattering across the universe. He was using the trails as starting points, the fact that Danni was also the Time Child helped an awful lot, the legend of the Time Lady seemed to have roots in so many places. _

_Still nothing, not a trace. They'd even come across a version of his previous body with a red-haired version of his wife, and there was nothing he could do but watch her laugh like she'd never been happier, letting his younger self kiss her like he was her world, looking at him like he was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen._

"_Why do I always let go?" He asked, startling Clara who had been trying to think of something to say._

"_You didn't let her go." Clara reassured her, "Something tipped her out of the TARDIS, it had nothing to do with you."_

"_I let her go out of the door again." He protested, opening his eyes, "I promised I'd never let her go again. Why can't I do this right?" Clara smiled kindly, rubbing his arm in the only comfort she could give him._

"_You'll find her." She promised, "And she knows you will." He looked ready to disagree so she shook her head, her 'teacher' look appearing on her face. The one she got when she was trying to get a student to actually listen to her, stern and commanding, "She told me that herself. She may have had her doubts about your marriage, but she always knew you were coming for her." She placed a kiss on the side of his head, where his hairline rested and he batted her away, a grimace replacing the sad look._

"_Try and get some rest." She instructed before heading off to her room._

_The Doctor waited until she'd left the room before running his hand through his short hair, clenching his hand as he squeezed his eyes shut. He wouldn't cry, he told himself, it wouldn't do anyone any good and it certainly wouldn't help him find Danielle any faster._

_He just couldn't help dwelling on the fact that at that moment she could have been anywhere, alone and frightened. What if she was being hurt? What if she was frightened of him again? Would she blame him for her falling out?_

_What if she was dead?_

_He shook his head, pushing out of the chair and striding as fast as his long legs would carry him to the console. She wasn't dead, he'd find her. Then he'd find whoever sent the message and he'd make sure they knew what a grave mistake they'd made._

_~0~0~0~_

Danni leant back in Steven's, admittedly rather comfy, desk chair. The words on the screen both demanded to be read and yet seemed to dance in her vision. To be honest, she wasn't exactly used to reading in semi-script format, but it wasn't too hard to follow.

"That's where I got up to when you turned up." He told her and she nodded slowly, shell-shocked. She was used to seeing her name and exploits written down, after all she'd spent the last couple of years writing what was, essentially, her autobiography. Some people had even been kind enough to write fanfiction about _her_ fan not-so-fiction. However, seeing that Steven Moffat was writing about her just seemed surreal. He saw her with the Doctor, her actions were played out in front of her on screen, the last moment she'd been with the Doctor she had thought was a secret that only she held.

"He's coming for me?" She whispered, a small smile appearing on her face. She knew if anyone could get her home it would be the Doctor. Then she'd get him to teach her what he'd done, so she wasn't so bloody hopeless if it ever happened again.

"Of course he is." Peter told her, trying to hide his own glee at the entire situation. The moment he'd spotted Danielle, he knew this was going to be an adventure he wouldn't want to miss. And now he was going to get the chance to meet the Doctor, one he wasn't about to pass up, "We'll help you find him, and in the meantime one of us might be able to come up with a plan."

Danni smiled gratefully at him, turning to Steven, "Will you help?" She asked hopefully and he sighed. Everything that was happened screamed 'Who' episode, and yet he'd never be able to use a word of it. But he lived Doctor Who, breathed the show and he knew that he'd never be able to resist that pleading look in Danni's eyes, that excited, tempting look that the Doctor got when he tried to lure in his companions.

"Fine." He sighed and she jumped up, hugging him tightly.

"Oh, thank you, thank you!" She cried before dashing out of the room, "_I'll make the tea!_" She cried over her shoulder.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for all the favs, and follows and lovely words of loveliness! You're all gorgeous and I'm sorry for the filler chap, action will be next week!_

_~0~0~0~_

The Daleks had appeared again, this time surprising them all by acting like they were a marketing gimmick, making the public even less wary of them. Steven had set to work shortly afterwards, seeing another appearance of them knowing they were really there had him sat at his desk, trying beyond anything he had before, attempting to write the story of the Doctor defeating the Daleks with the Time Lord having nothing to his disposal. So far, though, nothing was coming to mind. They didn't even have his sonic screwdriver, and even though the Doctor didn't have it during most of the Eleventh Hour, he'd had access to the world's greatest minds and, well, they didn't even have that. No one had come to him, or anyone else as far as he knew, demanding that they help stop the invasion of the Daleks.

Well, no one but Danni, Matt and Peter, the two men seemingly taking to the situation much better than he'd have expected. He'd always said that both men were perfect embodiments of their respective Doctor's, but this was on a completely different level.

Danni agreed, even if he had no idea that she did. They'd left Steven on his own, letting the man work away from distraction, relocating to the living room. Danni was leaning on Matt's arm as they all tried to keep up with the news. Matt was on his phone checking news websites while Peter flicked through the multitude of channels, but no one seemed to care.

"I can't believe that they're more bothered about the _bloody_ weather than Daleks!" He raged slightly, leaning back in the armchair he'd chosen.

"We're not the only people to have noticed, though." Matt replied, "That lad who died in Birmingham has been declared missing. They don't think he's been killed, but people are starting to think there's more to this than they first realised."

"The BBC still haven't claimed it's not them, though." Peter pointed out, "What if the Daleks have actually been here longer than we've realised? We've still not considered the fact they could have come through with Danielle."

Matt shook his head, "If they'd been here for so long then they should know the Doctor doesn't actually exist here. Why are they still looking for him?"

"Because everyone knows he'll come for Danielle?" Peter suggested, "Maybe they know something we don't."

"_Maybe_ they got impatient." Matt corrected.

"I've done this before." Danni piped up and the two men looked at her as she stared at the television, "In the Torchwood hub. I watched the news as the Daleks took the Earth and waited for the Doctor to turn up and save the day." She sat up straighter, "I'm not doing it again. I've got to do something."

"Even if we knew what to do, you know he won't like it if you put yourself in dangerous." Matt pointed out, nodding slightly towards Peter.

"Oh, screw him." She scoffed, "He thinks I'm made of glass. I'm just as immortal as he is, probably more so now I'm back here." She waved a hand down herself, "I'm sat here once again waiting for someone else to save the day!"

"What do you expect to do?" Peter snapped, "Run over to them and scare them away? You'll just get killed!"

"You know, that's not a bad idea." She replied thoughtfully, "I might be able to do what _he_ did," she nodded towards Matt, "and blow them out of the sky? It can't be that hard."

"That is such a bad idea!" Matt groaned, "Even if you look past the fact you're actually looking to get killed, you can't even guarantee that you'll regenerate here. They might just kill you!"

"Of course I'll regenerate!" She snapped, "Immortal girl, remember?"

"Yes, in _there_!" He argued, "For God's sake, Danni, I know you don't want to feel useless but getting yourself killed isn't going to help anyone!"

"Wait, so the Doctor can threaten to regenerate to wipe out a Cyber Controller from his head, but I can't to save the whole fucking Earth?" She exclaimed, "How is that fair?"

"Oh, and it's fair that he'd have to bury you?" Matt snapped before pointing at her, "Do you have any idea how you falling out of the TARDIS felt for him? Because I do. I remember that! He can't handle you dying again because of some hare-brained scheme to be like him!" She narrowed her eyes at him and he glared back, the pair sitting in silence, both frustrated.

"You know about that?" She asked quietly and he nodded.

"If you hadn't have regenerated then he wouldn't have lasted long enough to even get to Clara, let alone regenerate again." Matt explained, "I'm surprised you've managed to fall out of his sight. There's no way that the Doctor wouldn't have you by his side for even a moment, the fact you've been away from him for two years is, quite frankly, astonishing." She frowned, looking at Peter, who also seemed slightly uncomfortable.

"I lived with Clara for a year." She replied at Matt genuinely looked surprised.

"What?"

She nodded, "After he regenerated he sort of, rejected me, I suppose." She glanced at Peter, "It got better, then it got a lot worse and I moved out of the TARDIS. Became a dinner lady for a while, but it didn't last."

"But, the phone call!" Matt protested. He couldn't believe it, really. It was like hearing that the couple you had thought was most in love, holding each other's hands and talking as if their relationship was just how it should be, had suddenly got divorced. His dreams of the Doctor did not reflect that at all.

"It was the phone call that broke it." Peter told him and Matt leant back into the sofa, "Your Doctor was so focused on all the lies my Doctor couldn't help but lie to her. He kept telling her he didn't love her anymore." He looked at Danni, "Which was ridiculous, by the way. You'd think by that point he'd know how to override his own instincts." She shrugged.

"You'd think so." She agreed, "However, this is the man who couldn't tell the difference between Blackpool and Tokyo." Peter chuckled slightly.

"He was convinced the Chuckle Brothers were going to be in a panto there." He recalled, "God, I had to go film Flatline after that and I couldn't get him out of my head." She laughed and leant back against Matt.

"We're okay now." She promised him, "And okay, so maybe getting myself killed to drive the Daleks away isn't going to help, but I can't not do anything."

"We'll think of something." Matt promised as the door to the living room opened.

"I can't think of anything!" Steven raged as he stormed in, "I'm only one man and he's bloody impossible." Danni smiled at him sympathetically as he dropped onto the sofa next to her, "How are we supposed to do it, anyway? None of us are master weapon smiths or… or hackers or anything! Even if I can work out what the Doctor would do, none of us could bloody pull it off!"

"It's okay." Danni reassured, seeing how stressed it was making him, "It's too much pressure to put on one man's shoulders. What we need to do it pool our resources, put our heads together and work out what to do from there."

"But what _do_ we know?" Steven asked, frustrated.

"Well, we think the Daleks have been here longer than we first thought." She replied, "Peter pointed out that surely the BBC would be doing damage control, but apart from a couple of people saying it wasn't there, nothing's been said."

"Wait, so you think the Daleks are in the BBC?"

She nodded, "It's not unheard of, is it? I mean, you're the one who introduced the Sleeper Dalek things." She pointed at him, "Which, by the way, are not fun. I broke my arm running from one of them, the poor thing got enough abuse when I was jumping around, I don't need to keep hurting it." She shook her head, realising she was getting distracted, "Anyway, all they had to do was replace a few execs here and there and bam, instant Dalek-Run television station."

"Okay, even if that is true," Steven started, "which I hope to God it isn't, why now? Why are they only coming out for the Doctor now?"

"Maybe they know something we don't." Peter suggested slowly, "Maybe they know he's coming, so they're trying to get his attention."

"But he's not here." Danni pointed out, "So why now?"

"Maybe they know he's coming, but they don't know when?" Matt replied, eyes lighting up as an idea hit him, "Maybe we're looking at this wrong. Maybe we don't need to work out what the Doctor would do, maybe we just need to delay them long enough for him to turn up and do it." Danni looked at him, shocked for a moment before beaming.

"That's genius!" She exclaimed, chucking her arms around him, "That can't be as hard as actually doing it!"

"How, though?" Peter asked, "We can't exactly give them a countdown clock, we don't know when he's going to show up! We don't even have any way of getting hold of them, or even if we want to!"

"What we need is more heads." Steven declared, jumping off the sofa, "Which we can do quite easily."

_~0~0~0~_

John Barrowman looked up at the front of Steven's house, smirking slightly to himself as he tried to not act so happy to be there. He had the biggest inkling that they were going to bring Jack back into Doctor Who, something he'd been hoping would be possible for ages. He could have kicked himself silly for being too busy and too professional the last time they'd called to cancel his plans. This time, however, was different. He'd fit the show in no matter when they wanted him to show up. After all, he did love his time on Doctor Who, and Capaldi seemed like an interesting Doctor to play off.

The door opened and he opened his mouth to greet Steven the only way he knew how, with a bit of a flirt. He spotted the ginger hair first and his mouth decided to hang there in shock at the bright, bubbly smile of the woman who greeted him instead.

"Jack!" Danni exclaimed before shaking her head, "Sorry, John, _John._" She corrected apologetically, "I'll get that right eventually. Come in." She stepped out of the way, letting the stunned man in. He couldn't stop staring at her, "We're still waiting on Billie, and David can't come until later on this afternoon, but everyone else is here. I've got some sandwiches made up, and we're going to order in Chinese later." She rambled before she stared at him expectantly, like she was waiting to see if he liked the idea, but truthfully it had barely registered.

"Danni?" He asked, amazed and she nodded and he laughed heartily, pulling her into a hug and lifting her off the floor, "Ha! Danni-Girl!" He cheered and she giggled, hugging him back tightly as her feet kicked in the air just slightly. He put her down and cupped her face, "I knew he'd lost you, but I can't believe you're here."

"Try being me." She retorted, grinning from ear to ear, "I've been here two years longer than I thought I'd be." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, letting her walk him into Steven's large dining room.

"So, back to being a ginge, eh?" He asked and she nodded.

"The only good thing to happen since I landed." She agreed, "I have to say I missed this body."

"I don't know, you're blonde body was quite lovely." He replied with a flirty tone and she rolled her eyes, pleased that Jack's nature crossed universes too.

"Do you think that's appropriate?" Alex called from across the room, leg crossed over the other. John finally took a look around the room. It was quite simply decorated, with a large rectangle table in the middle. Sat at the opposite end to where they were standing sat Alex Kingston, next to Freema Aygeman and across from Catherine Tate. Matt and Peter were next to Catherine and Steven appeared from the door he guessed lead to the kitchen.

"Why change the habit of the lifetime?" John joked, walking over and sitting next to Freema, "So, just Billie?"

"She's just called, her train got cancelled but she's getting the next one." Steven replied, "We'll just have to explain it to her when she gets here."

"Why are we all here?" Alex asked, "You didn't exactly explain anything on the phone, neither did you mention that Danni was mysteriously here." Danni joined Steven at the head of the table, slightly uncomfortable underneath all their scrutinizing gaze.

"That was my idea." She admitted, "I didn't think you'd come if you knew the truth, and we needed as many of you to be here as possible."

"I'm guessing this isn't for some Doctor Who reunion event, then?" Freema replied.

"No, not really." Steven agreed before sighing, "Right, have you all seen the Daleks showing up in random cities around the country?" They all nodded, slightly out of time with each other.

"It's quite the stunt you've pulled off, there." John replied.

"It isn't a stunt." Danni corrected, "They're actually Daleks. Real life Daleks. We," she looked over at Matt nervously, but he smiled encouragingly at her, "We think they came through with me. They're looking for the Doctor but, as you might guess by the fact I'm with you, he's not here."

"If they really are Daleks, why aren't the governments of the world doing anything about it?" Catherine asked, "They're still popping up left, right and centre."

"Because we think they've been working for a while, and no one's paying attention because they don't want them to." She replied, "There's probably only a small number of them, but we know that one Dalek is too many and, well, the thing is." She swallowed nervously, "I need all your help."

"We can't do anything." John retorted, "We're only actors."

"You're actors who have seen the Doctor in your dreams." She corrected, "Each of you have seen him in and out of episodes, at different points in his life, doing different things. I need your help because he is coming for me, and he's our best chance to stop the Daleks, but until he graces us with his presence, we need to stall them."

"How can we help?" Alex asked, "What can we possibly do?"

"I don't know." Danni replied bluntly, "I'm hoping we can brainstorm, think of ways that we could distract them long enough for either the Doctor to come and take them back to our universe, or for one of us to actually think of a way to stop them ourselves." She placed both of her hands on the table, "Look, I know it's the strangest ask that anyone has ever asked of anyone, but we're practically it. Jenna's not answering her phone and both Arthur and Karen are in America. We've tried Christopher but he won't even come and meet us. The people in this room, and the two who aren't here yet, are the group of people that we have that know the most about the Doctor Who universe. The Doctors, the companions and the head writer."

"We're not exactly specialists, though, are we?" Alex pointed out, "You can't expect us to take on actual, real life _Daleks_."

"I'm not." Danni quickly insisted, "If you don't want to, or do feel up to this, then that is fine. It's up to you." There was silence, Danni nervously walking over to stand in between the two men who looked like her husband, trying to take some comfort from them.

John lazily put his hand up, like a child at school, "Er, yes John?" Danni asked slowly.

"Will we meet the Doctor?" He asked.

"I hope so." She replied, "I've loved being back, but I'd really like to go home and he really is my only ride." John shrugged.

"I'm in." He announced and Alex looked at him, eyebrow raised sceptically.

"_Really_?" She asked, "And what exactly do you think you can bring to this, quite frankly, ridiculous affair?"

"A handsome look and a killer smile?" He retorted and she shook her eyes, almost in frustration. Danni couldn't help but stare, she didn't know if they actually knew each other apart from in passing, but they couldn't have been more like River and Jack if they'd tried. Alex even had the same look on her face River gained whenever dealing with Jack, like she was an exasperated parent who was equally annoyed and amused by her young child.

"And do you have anything that might be of any use?" She retorted.

"Do you?" He challenged and with a slight narrowing of her eyes she turned to Danni.

"YouTube video." She suggested, sounding incredibly sure, "We could make a video contacting the Daleks and have it go viral. We all have enough pull to be able to get that going in a few days, at least strong enough for them to notice. If they're looking for the Doctor, they're bound to pick up on anything Doctor related." John pointed at her aggressively a couple times before nodding.

"That's not a bad idea." He agreed.

"But then what?" Freema asked, "Are we sure that bringing the Daleks to us is the best way to go about this?"

"We can't exactly defend ourselves." Catherine agreed, "You may have big space guns in the show, John, but here we're sitting ducks!"

"We're not trying to draw them to us, we're just trying to draw them away from everyone else." Alex explained, "As long as they don't think it's us behind it, then we're safe."

"So we have to make a video that none of us are in, yet have to make sure it's related enough to the Doctor to capture their attention?" Freema scoffed, "There's no way we can do that!"

Danni held her hand up, "I'll do it."

"No!" She blinked, having not expected them all to vehemently reject the idea.

"That's a terrible idea." Peter continued, "You're just asking to be kidnapped and held until the Doctor turns up or they decide to kill you. You're really not very good at this, are you?"

"I don't see you offering any ideas." She snapped in reply, "I'm the only real character here, and I'm _married_ to the man. There is a good chance they'll listen to me."

"I'm hurt, Danni-Girl." John joked from the other side and both Peter and Danni shot him a glare that wiped the cheeky smirk off his face.

"They're not going to listen to you." Peter told her, "You're not the one they're scared of. They're scared of the Doctor, you know, the one who comes to get you?"

"Hey!" She protested, "I'm quite fucking scary when I want to be, Spaceman! Don't you forget it!" No one pointed out the fact that Peter technically wasn't her 'Spaceman', she did actually look rather scary when she was that angry. Then, the look fell away, "Oh my Lord, that's it." She exclaimed, "The Doctor! We need to broadcast the Doctor!"

"Yes, but we don't have the Doctor." Catherine pointed out.

"No, but we have two men that _look_ like the Doctor." She explained before frowning in thought, "It'd have to be Peter, though." She smiled softly at him, all her annoyance completely gone, "If they came through with me, you're the current Doctor and the one who's coming to get me." She pulled herself up on the table, her legs dangling comically, "You don't have to do it, sweetie, if you don't want to."

"No one else can, though, right?" He pointed out, "We still don't know what to shoot, where to shoot it."

"We can sort that out." Danni reassured him, "We'll script it, Steven can get your costume-"

"I keep calling Jenna, see if we get her to come be in it." Steven added, looking actually rather excited about it.

"We can be in it as well." Catherine suggested, "I mean, if they know the Doctor with Danni, they'll know he'd pull an army of his friends for her."

"He did for Amy." Alex pointed out. Danni listened to them all, so excited about the prospect of actually doing something to help. She'd not expected this response, if she was honest with herself. But there they were, almost the friends of the Doctor that they played, wanting to help save the world in the small way they could.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Danni asked Peter.

Peter Capaldi, who had dreamed to be the Doctor since the first time he'd watched the show. He, who had finally gotten the chance after the dream seemingly got further and further from his reach, now had the chance to be the Doctor in real life, be one step away from the man who had enchanted his childhood.

He stood, drawing everyone's attention from their conversations as his eyebrow raised and he planted his hands either side of her, obviously surprising her by the stunned look on her face. With a smirk he normally only wore for work he leant closer to Danielle, his lips just next to her ear.

"I think I'll do just fine,_ my pet._" He murmured in his delectable Scottish accent and her breath caught in her chest, goosebumps covering her skin as he pulled away, still smirking. She felt it, the effect of that little pet name running through her, and she was suddenly aware of just how much she needed to get back to the Doctor.

_~0~0~0~_

Billie had taken the appearance of Danni better than all of them; when the ginger girl had opened the door Billie had stared for only a moment and then pulled Danni into a hug, saying it was lovely to finally meet her. Apparently someone had already told her about Danni's semi-successful story online so, when she'd seen the Daleks on the television, she knew it had to be only a matter of time before the two would meet. The fact that hardly anyone was questioning had her asking more questions than the rest, recalling the Arch Angel Network and wondering the Daleks were keeping the population docile.

To say they were glad of someone else's input was an understatement.

They'd already split off into groups, Freema and Catherine deciding location and settings for the video while Matt and Peter huddled together to get the script just right while Alex and John were on research, looking into the sightings of the Daleks as well as anything from inside the BBC, trying to work out just how long they'd been there. Steven was on the phone, trying to get hold of some of the Who crew to get costumes and anything else they needed. There was no room for error, the Daleks were smart creatures and needed to be completely convinced it was the Doctor that was talking to them and not the actor who played him.

Danni had been flitting between the groups, trying to help with her more specialised knowledge, so Billie had joined the 'Companion' group and that had been that for the last hour or so. Danni watched them all with a soft smile on her face, what she wouldn't have given for this to be happening for real. So many people she wouldn't ever see again with her actual universe, it was bitter-sweet in a way, but wonderful in another. There was a reason these people had been picked to play her friends, after all.

"I'm gonna put the kettle on." She declared, walking over to the door to the kitchen, turning to watch them all a little longer.

"You're staring." Catherine teased and Danni shrugged.

"You're all just wonderful." She replied honestly, "Extraordinary." With that, she skipped into the kitchen, picking up the kettle and filling it to the brim before flicking the switch. As she was pulling out mugs from the top cupboard and chucked teabags into each cup, she realised she didn't actually know how they liked their drinks. She knew Rose liked it with milk and two sugars, but Billie might not like it with sugar at all. Donna hadn't really liked tea, usually she'd stuck to coffee but maybe Catherine was tea mad. She actually had no idea what any of the people in the other room liked, or didn't like.

She headed back out to ask them, watching them work with each other, taking the sight in and suddenly realising something that made her chest tighten and her hands clench at her side. Sat in front of her was Rose, Donna and Martha, working together just like the companions always did, in the name of the Doctor. Jack and River were huddled together close to Eleven and Twelve, probably coming up with the sciencey stuff no one else ever understood but them.

Except it wasn't Jack and River, it was John and Alex. Billie, Catherine and Freema weren't her real friends and the two men huddled together weren't her husband. But seeing them all together hit her like a train and she found herself unable to move. This was the last time she'd see most of them together, and they weren't even her friends. Her gaze fell onto Matt and Peter, who looked almost exactly like her husband, except Peter was dressed smartly but not in the right suit and Matt no longer had the floppy hair she'd adored. What if he never came back? What if the last time she saw him it was as two complete strangers? They were thinking as if the Doctor was coming, but what if he didn't? She was stuck in a universe where all her family lived and none of them were the people she loved.

"Danni?" John asked, with a frown. He'd seen her walk out and freeze on the spot and had become increasingly concerned as her eyes had darted across them all. He and Alex had actually talked about this earlier on when she'd been busy with Peter and Matt, he knew the signs of someone about to fall into a panic. She'd called Peter 'Spaceman', which hadn't been a good sign to begin with.

"Nope." Danni declared loudly, pulling everyone's attention to her as she shook her head, heading to the door to get away from them all, "I can't do this. I... Nope."

"You can't just leave!" Peter declared as they all chased after her, "We need your help."

"I can't handle all of you in the same room." She told him simply, "I just want to go home and suddenly there's a group of people helping fight the Daleks and it's not right." She could feel herself shaking, she had to get away from them, "I just... I just need a moment, I won't be long, I promise." The front door was so inviting, she could just run away and wait until the Doctor came. The Daleks can't do too much damage, right? Perhaps she could go on holiday, somewhere far away,

"Danni-Girl, you can't just run off!" John insisted, "We can stop for a while, but if the Daleks find out you're here they're going to come after you." She turned to look at him.

"I'm not your Danni-Girl." She snapped, "I'm Jack's. You are not Jack but you sound like Jack and you look like Jack and you flirt like Jack. But you're not him and they're not my husband and this is too much!" With that she bolted out of the door, down the path and towards the front gate. Her eyes stung, but she refused to cry when the Doctor wasn't there to comfort her. She'd calm down then go back, but she just needed to be on her own, she needed time to adjust and everything was happening so quickly.

David Tennant was late as it was, but he'd not been able to get to Steven's after everyone else so it wasn't exactly a new development. He'd had a couple of interviews, pretty routine and even though Steven had been more than understanding about it, he was still rushing to get there as soon as he possibly could. He still wasn't sure why Steven was so adamant that he had to come see him, but if it had anything to do with this stupid Dalek stunt then he had to find out what was going on.

He wasn't expecting to see the red-haired woman come barrelling at him, skidding to a stop with her grey eyes full of tears. She looked relived and heartbroken to see him at the same time and he hated that look on her face so much.

"Danni-Girl." He breathed, opening his arms and she rushed over, chucking her arms around him as she cried. He held her tight and let her sob into him, looking up the path to see Matt and Peter stood there, serious looks on their faces. He was bewildered about what was going on, how the girl that they shared in their heads was currently burying herself into his t-shirt, shaking her head and telling him she wanted to go home. He should have been demanding to know what was going on, how she even existed in the first place. If she was here, did that mean that the Doctor was here too?

Instead he shushed Danni gently, feeling her cling tighter and whispered that they should really head inside.

_~0~0~0~_

The screen flickered with static before it caught the transmission, the screen opening in the TARDIS console room. The bookcases were visible in the background, the light was dim and in centre view was the Doctor.

"Hello, Daleks." He drawled, "I believe you've been looking for me." He smirked, "Well, I guess you've pulled me out of hiding, as it were. I'm not there yet, but I'm coming, and if you knew what was good for your pitiful race, you'd run. I have an army coming with me, my wife is there with you vile creatures." He stepped back, chucking his arms out, "I am the Doctor," he declared, "do you really feel like you can win?" With a smirk, the camera was cut and Danni rushed over to Peter, grinning from ear to ear as she chucked her arms around him.

"Oh, that was perfect!" She cheered before pointing at the camera, "Come get us, Daleks!"

_~0~0~0~_

In the sky, high above the Earth, sat one lone Dalek ship with only a handful of Daleks and a couple of Sleepers. A female, short black haired and very smartly dressed, turned to a group of three Daleks, a Dalek talk sitting in her forehead.

"This was posted on the internet yesterday." She explained, "We've traced the uploading location to a 'Starbucks' in Birmingham."

"Is it the Doctor?" One Dalek asked her.

"We're not convinced." She explained, "If you look just at the end, there is a flash of hair just in the corner of the screen." She pulled up the clip in question, pointing out a flash of ginger hair, "We believe that is The Time Child, who we know came here alone. There has been no sign of any cross-universe disturbance, we believe that this is the work of the humans behind the television broadcast showcasing the Doctor's life."

"They are trying to trick us." The Dalek replied angrily, "The Doctor's presence is imminent!"

"We suspect in the next Earth week." She agreed, "Masters, it may be time to start converting more of the human race."

"We must wait for the Doctor." Another one yelled but she didn't flinch, "His TARDIS is necessary to transverse through the universes. With it, we can conquer every universe! Keep the humans docile, we will attack when the Doctor is no more!"

She bowed, "Yes, my Masters."

_~0~0~0~_

Down below the people of the Earth gasped and then clapped as, yet again, the Doctor Who crew pulled out all the stops to have Daleks appeared as if from nowhere, arriving to the sound of praise and applause.

Danni, Peter and Steven watched in horror as BBC News 24 performed a live broadcast, having been waiting in the centre of Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester. The crowd was so happy, and then the Daleks turned and their cheers turned to screams at it began to pick off the crowd, one by one.

"_The Doctor is coming!_" They cried in unison as Danni clung to Peter's arm, tears in her eyes, "_Bring us the Time Child!_"

"_We want the Time Child!" _A few echoed.

"_Bring us the Time Child, or you will be exterminated_!"


	3. Chapter 3

_I did forget to mention that this Danni is post-Season 8, so nothing really is a spoiler for her. Thanks for reminding me :)_

_~0~0~0~_

Jenna Coleman ducked into an alleyway, slowing her breathing down as much as she could as she pressed herself again the cold, slightly damp, brick wall of the kebab house she'd hidden behind. There was a dumpster that smelt like it'd had better days, but she wasn't too worried. She was too busy trying to be as invisible as she could be, wishing beyond anything that she had her phone. The screams and occasional gunshot rang through the air as the robotic voice told them all to surrender.

She had known the moment the news story had broken that there had been more to the 'marketing gimmick' than first met the eye. She would have been told about it whether or not they were allowed to admit to it so she could react accordingly. The special effects had been too good, so she'd gone in search of her own Dalek.

She'd found them and immediately saw that they definitely were not some guy dressed up in a costume. She'd seen the Who Daleks, and while they were incredibly good, this was more than good. This was real. The Daleks were actually here, which meant that something terrible had gone on.

Then they'd started demanding to be given The Time Child. That meant Danni was here. Danni was here and she'd not known, and that had annoyed her for the brief moment before she realised that they wanted Danni. That she was in danger, and there was no Doctor and no Clara to save her.

Of course, as the Dalek came down the alleyway, spotting her instantly, she also realised there was no Clara or Doctor to save _her_. She was aggressively ushered back into the street, hands held up in surrender, and into a long line of humans that were being taken somewhere to, most likely, be converted.

She squeezed her eyes closed, "Danni-Girl, _please_." She whispered to herself.

_~0~0~0~_

"I have to go!" Danni protested to the line of three men blocking her exit from the house, "You heard them, they're going to kill everyone if I don't hand myself in!"

"And then they'll kill you and everyone else." John pointed out, "You can't go in there blindly!"

"I'm not going in blindly!" She insisted, looking up at them. The moment Peter, Matt and John had realised what she was doing, which had been to go to the nearest city and hand herself in, they'd swarmed her, "I'm going to hand myself in, where they'll either keep me as a hostage until the Doctor comes, turn me into a Dalek or just kill me."

"And how are any of those things going to help?" Peter snapped, "We need to wait for the Doctor, isn't that what all of this was all about?"

"It's too late!" She exclaimed, voice high, "The Doctor isn't here and they're killing people!" She jabbed him in the chest, "I won't let people die because of me, do you get that?" He grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer.

"You're not going, Danielle." He snarled, "You're acting stupid, I'm not listening to it anymore." She stared up, too shocked to reply. He pushed her away and she stumbled slightly, "Now do as you are told and go into the front room!" She looked between the two men, unable to reply except for a huff, turning and storming away into the front room.

"Wow, channelling the Doc much?" John asked and Peter sighed, relaxing and out of his 'Doctor' persona.

"If that's the only way she'll not do something stupid." He replied, "We can't let her just hand herself over, but what else do we do? People are going to die."

"You can't be seriously suggesting that we let her go!" Matt snapped and Peter rolled his eyes.

"Calm down. Of course I'm not. But our little video obviously wasn't enough, we need another way to stall them."

"If we aggravate them, they might just take more prisoners." John reasoned, "My question is why no one else seems to be trying? I mean, there's no military action, no bombings, no one seems to be doing anything. The only people who seem to give a damn is a group of actors that have been on the television show that made them famous."

"Maybe they're deeper than we thought." Peter suggested, "Those Sleeper Daleks could be anyone, they look human, we have no idea who is one or isn't."

"So it's just us?" Matt asked, "Two guys who played an alien, Mr Flirt over here, a few ex-companions and the only person in the universe who can help is dead set on getting herself killed!" He looked at John, who could only shrug, "Well, we'd better get a bloody move on then!"

_~0~0~0~_

Danni flopped into the armchair in the front room, the large seat engulfing her slightly but she didn't care, fuming slightly as she chewed her thumbnail. How dare he talk to her like that? She wasn't a child, she was the one in the know here! She was the part Time Lord, not him!

Why did he have to talk to her like that? Did he know what putting on his 'Doctor' voice actually did to her? He must do, because if he dreamt about both her and the Doctor, then he'd have seen them together. Twelve's voice turned her to putty when he tried, and he used to use that to his advantage all the time. There was no way that he didn't know that, after all he had called her 'my pet'. Only the Doctor called her that, and only to wind her up so he could uncoil her.

She shifted in her chair, turning her attention back to the television, where the news was still broadcasting the Daleks and their attempt to round up humans for 'conversion'. She couldn't think about it, he wasn't her husband. He just looked like him. And sounded like him. And smelt like him.

She straightened as she spotted something on the television, wondering if she'd just been seeing things. There was varying shots of people being rounded up in various parts of the country, all walking the same direction with their hands in the air, hoping to be spared. It flicked through the cities but she was sure she'd seen something. She jumped up, looking for the Sky remote and knelt in front of the set, rewinding the live feed from the News channel, pausing just in time to see her on screen.

"Jack!" She screamed, "I mean, John! Doc- I mean, oh _somebody!"_ She growled slightly in frustration. Well, what did they expect? She knew them as her friends and family, not as the actors. It was always going to be hard to get over that.

"What?" John asked as the three men came in, "You can't still be thinking of going after them?" She looked behind her, shaking her head.

"I think I found Jenna." She told him grimly, turning back to point at Jenna in the crowd of people. There she was, hands up, being ushered with the rest of the hostages, "We can't wait anymore. I'm not letting another Clara die because of me."

_~0~0~0~_

To be honest, David found it all a bit overwhelming. Sure he was enjoying the idea of doing something as extraordinary as the Doctor, how could he not be happy at the prospect of saving the day just like the man he'd played and adored? But they were all quite clueless, really, when it came down to actually thinking up a way to actually do it. He didn't know how else he could help, but he'd called his wife and she'd agreed that if he felt like he could be of help, then he should do it. As long as he came back safe and sound, she was behind him.

She was wonderful like that.

Danni sat down next to him as they all reconvened around Steven's table. A lot of them had taken to staying in a couple of hotels, but Danni and Matt had won the metaphorical draw and were in Steven's spare room. She smiled warmly, hand on his arm.

"How are you feeling?" She asked him.

"A bit out of my depth." He admitted, "Probably not as much as you, though." She nodded in agreement.

"I'm just glad I have all of you." She told him, "God knows what would have happened if I'd had to do this on my own."

"Aw, well, we can't have that, can we Danni-Girl?" He replied with his trademark grin and she giggled in delight, "What would Chin-Boy say?"

"Hey!" Matt called jokingly from across the table, "I heard that!"

"You were supposed to!" David retorted.

"Oh, I can't believe I didn't get to remember you two together!" Danni moaned, "I always miss the good stuff!"

"I seem to remember you were the jealous one." Matt pointed out smugly.

"Maybe." David admitted, "But _you_ were the moping one."

"Can we focus?" Peter drawled, "Jenna's in danger, we actually have to do something."

"Seriously, I don't know what you think we're going to do." Alex replied, "We're not aliens, they're not companions. The only Time Lord here is Danni. We're hopelessly outmatched."

"She's right." Billie replied, "As much as I hate to admit it, what can _we_ do? None of us actually did any of that stuff. Half the technology used in the show doesn't even exist. There's no way we can take on the Daleks."

"There must be _something_ though." David insisted, "The Whoniverse bled through to us for a reason, it can't have been for a television show. We must have gained something useful from this."

"Even if we knew what the Doctor would do, we still couldn't even begin to implement it." Catherine added, "Let's face it, we're not the superheroes, we just played them on TV."

"How do we know how to, though?" David pressed, turning to Danni, "You met them all, would you say we played them well?" She nodded.

"Better than well." She replied, "Honestly, when I watched them back, I couldn't tell the difference. It was like they were watching them. You were just like the Doctor." He smirked slightly, his ego stroked nicely as they all went back to arguing. Danni frowned to herself, barely paying attention. Just like the Doctor? He had, though. David Tennant had played Ten exactly like Ten had been. Well, except for the fact she wasn't there, but the bits that had been the same were identical.

Peter was the same, actually. There had been no 'romantic interest' in Series 8, but if there had she could see him acting just like her husband. The drawl he had, the murmur in his voice, she _knew_ Peter could have twisted that just like Twelve did.

And Matt. Well, that man had channelled her Doctor. Quite frankly she didn't know how he'd done it. He was just like the Doctor.

"Just like the Doctor..." She muttered aloud, going over the thought again and again. The argument stopped as she didn't continue.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked and she nodded, looking across the table and meeting his gaze. He even had the same eyes that her husband had, and that extraordinary ability to show so many years in such a young face. Such a startling green colour.

"Just like the Doctor." She declared, standing up, "That's it!"

"What is?" John asked.

"We had it right to begin with. The video to get their attention; that was the key!" She rushed out, "Don't you see? We don't have to be the Doctor, we just have to be _like_ the Doctor. That's what they want. They don't want me, or all those humans, or Jenna. They want the Doctor."

"We know." He replied, "But we don't have the Doctor."

"No, we don't. But we have people _like_ the Doctor." She pointed out, "They want the Doctor? Let's give them the Doctor. We have three right here, I'm sure we can get more!" She motioned to the table, "And even if we can't, three should be enough. All we have to do is convince them that you three are the Doctor, and it'll send them packing! They're terrified of him, there is no way they'll be able to fight three of him without regrouping." She looked over at Steven, "What have you got? Is he on his way?" Steven looked around the table before nodding.

"I dreamt about him last night." He admitted, "The Twelfth Doctor had just gone to the Eleventh. I can't really remember what's happening, though."

"He's recruiting them." Matt replied in realisation, "He'll go back to yours as well." He motioned to David, who nodded in agreement.

"He's desperate and there's no one he trusts more with Danni than himself." He agreed, looking over at Peter, "What about you? Anything to say he knows she's here?"

"I think so." Peter replied, "I remember him being extremely happy. Either I'd dreamt after he'd got her back, or that he'd worked out where she is."

"So, what you're saying is that my husband is bringing himself to get me?" Danni asked and he shrugged.

"Seems so." He replied.

"And he knows where I am, and if he's happy then he knows how to get to me?" She continued and he nodded, "Then that's it. We just have to make them run away." She placed her hands on the table, leaning in with a smirk, "So, what do you think boys?" She asked the three actors, "Fancy getting married?"

_~0~0~0~_

The plan ended up being surprisingly simple. Steven made a few phone calls to some very terrified members of crew, and a few who didn't answer that none of them thought about what they might have being doing instead. When the situation was explained to them, as well as the fact that Jenna had also been caught, they managed to get a few on board. They didn't have long to do this, but all three costumes were needed this time, and someone had to locate Matt's wig from The Time of the Doctor, which they still had but as he wasn't on Doctor Who anymore, it wasn't exactly kept in plain sight.

Things were coming together nicely, the 'Doctors' rehearsing their parts while the companions helped with wording or, in Catherine's case, made sure they all were kept fed and had sufficient access to tea/alcohol.

"Yes, mum, I'm okay." Danni sighed into her phone as she paced around the living room, "They've not got me yet."

"_I thought you were supposed to be safe here._" Her mum sobbed, "_Why is this happening?_"

"If I knew I'd tell you, you know I would." She promised, "Just stay in side, both of you. Stay in a room without windows if you can, make it seem like the house is empty. If I can, I'll come get you, but just stay inside."

"_Is he there?_" Her mother asked, "_The Doctor? Is he keeping you safe?_" The door opened and David stepped in, waving almost guiltily and she smiled softly.

"He's trying his best." She replied softly, "I'm going to have to go, please stay safe."

"_Just don't do anything stupid._" Her mum replied, "_Me and your dad love you very much._"

"I love you too, mum." Danni said softly before hanging up. She held her phone up slightly, giving it a wiggle in the air, "In the madness of everything, I forgot to ring my parents. I've been missing for days, they were worried sick." He walked over, hands in his trouser pockets.

"How did they take it?" He asked curiously, "Knowing that you know everything and that you regenerated? Because _I_ only found out recently and let me tell you," He ran his hand through his hair, "it took me by surprise."

"I think they were just so happy that I had come back that they didn't care if I was angry at them or not." She explained with a soft smile, "I just told them that they were my parents, they'd always be my parents and that I would always love them."

"I bet they liked that." He replied and she nodded.

"So, has planning stagnated until we get the costumes?" She asked and he shrugged.

"Matt and Peter are just discussing how to play, you know, being your husband." He replied, "It's nothing something I have to be completely engaged in."

"Yeah, your Doctor really missed the boat when it came to that." She teased, "Well, I'm still planning on what to say when I call whatshername later on. I mean, I've never had to lure a Dalek in, what do I say? Is she nice?"

"Julie?" David asked and she nodded, "She was lovely when I met her, but then again if we think they came through with you, she probably wasn't a Dalek then." Julie Scott was the production executive for Doctor Who, and had been for years. They didn't actually know she had been taken by the Daleks at all, it was all based on the fact that if the Daleks were watching for the Doctor, then they'd be as close to anything even associated to the Doctor. He really hoped that wasn't the case, but they had to be logical. They needed to get a hold of the Daleks and this seemed their most logical next step.

"Fair point." She agreed, "How hard can it be?" They fell into silence, Danni glancing at the doorway. She had the urgent need to get back to Matt, but she couldn't understand it. It wasn't like David had been mean to her, but all it took was one thing she said and it would set him off and he'd leave her behind aga- _oh_.

Danni giggled at herself and David frowned, "What?" He asked.

"I think I'm getting throwback feelings." She told him, "I keep expecting you to shout at me. I just realised how ridiculous that is."

"Did he really chuck you out of the TARDIS?" David asked and she nodded.

"Oh, loads." She told him, "He was always so grumpy with Rose, I was left behind so m-"

"No." He interrupted, "I mean Matt's Doctor. Did he really chuck you out into space?" She frowned then shook his head.

"No." She replied as if he was saying something unimaginable, "I fell out. Why would you say that?"

"In the 50th, his Doctor told my Doctor that he was just trying to scare you. I asked Matt about it and he said that he'd dangled you out then let you go." She blinked, stunned slightly, "I didn't believe him, but I had to ask." She didn't reply but looked back at the door.

"That's not what happened." She told him firmly, sounding upset, "Excuse me." She dashed out and back into the dining room, coming to a stop as Matt looked up and smiled.

"Get through to them, Danni-Girl?" He called and she nodded.

"He didn't chuck me out." She replied instead, "Tell me he didn't regenerate thinking he did."

"What do you mean?" Billie asked, looking up from the checklist her and Alex were writing.

"I fell out of the TARDIS and shot into the Time War." She quickly rambled out, "I _fell. _But you told David he chucked me out." She turned back to Matt, "He didn't regenerate thinking that, did he? Tell me he didn't always think like that. _Please._" Matt didn't know what to say, because it had obviously struck something in her that was making her look at him pleadingly. But he had, the Doctor had never forgiven himself for what had happened to Danni. Even though Matt knew the actual series of events, the Doctor had always seen himself chucking her out of the TARDIS.

His silence was obviously enough and she looked over a Peter, her expression showing her devastation, "What about you? Does he still think it?"

"I think he'll never forgive himself." Peter replied vaguely.

"He didn't do it." She insisted, "He..." She squeezed her eyes closed, taking in a shaky breath, "If I get hurt here, if the Daleks kill me, he's going to blame himself too, isn't he?"

"He feeds off guilt." David replied as Matt stood up. He didn't even think about it, he strode over and pulled her in for a hug.

"You know what that means, don't you?" He told her gently, smiling down at her when she looked up at him, looking for comfort, "We just have to make sure nothing happens to you, eh?" She nodded and he wiped the tears from her cheeks, "Okay?" She nodded again, "Good. No more crying, Danni-Girl. Go have a cuppa, calm down and we'll make that phone call together, right?" She nodded and he placed a kiss on her forehead, making her giggle, "That's it." He nudged her towards the door she came from and she left, barely noticing anyone else.

"I can't believe that worked." Matt sighed and David shrugged.

"I can." He replied, "She's desperate for her husband, and you've just given her the illusion that he was there."

"We're all going to have to be careful." Alex pointed out, standing up, "Dreams are powerful things; we all remember nightmares but forget good dreams for a reason. We don't just know the stories, we've been flooded with the emotions night after night. She _isn't_ our Danni-Girl, she's theirs."

"We know that." Matt replied and Alex looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"Really?" She retorted sceptically, "Because it broke my heart to see her cry, and I've only just met her. Are you telling me you ran over here and hugged her out of kindness? Or because the Doctor could never stand to see her cry either?" Matt looked away, because she was right. It had been a strange feeling, the feeling of someone else's hurt mixing in with his own emotions. It wasn't quite his heartbreak, but he'd felt it second hand. And a glance at everyone else showed that, to various degrees, they'd all felt it too.

"What do we do?" Peter asked lowly.

"We play our parts." Alex told her, "We keep her close until we can get her home. There's no use fighting it."

"We're not them, though." Matt insisted.

"No, we're not." Alex agreed, "But you couldn't fight it when she was crying, what happens when a Dalek is shooting at her? We both know he's pushed her out of the way once before."

"I didn't sign up for this." Catherine declared.

"None of us did." John told her, "But would you change it?" There was silence for a moment as they all went over it again and again in their heads.

"I wouldn't." Freema stated certainly and no one could disagree.

**~0~0~0~**

Matt had really managed to calm Danni down, but then again Eleven had always been best at that so it really was no surprise to her. Now she just had to make contact with the Daleks, so there she stood, her three husband-lookalikes around her, Steven's phone against her ear as she listened to it ring.

"_Hello, Steven!_" The woman on the other end called happily, "_I was wondering when you were going to call. What is happening?_"

"Hello, Dalek." Danni replied instead, suddenly feeling rather angry that the Daleks were using some poor woman as a voice.

"_Who is this?_" Julie replied.

"Danielle Fielding." Danni told her, "You might know me as the Time Child, though." There was silence on the other side of the phone, lasting so long Danni actually had to check the screen, a confused look on her face, just to check the call hadn't cut out.

"_We've been waiting for you_." Julie's voice seemed harder, like she wasn't the one talking anymore, "_You will take us to the Doctor._"

"Will I?" She laughed, "I don't think so."

"_My masters have suggested that you surrender yourself, otherwise they will continue to convert more humans._"

"So they've already converted some? Not just you people in power, but to actual Daleks?"

"_They need an army for when the Doctor appears._" Julie explained, "_They feel like your cooperation will make that happen sooner rather than later_."

"I doubt they feel anything." Danni countered, "And nothing you can say will change that. I'm not interested in talking to the puppet, tell your 'masters' that I'm going to be online later today for a one-to-one. Do you think you can pass on the message?"

"_You do realise that we can trace this call very easily?_" Julie pointed out.

"And if you think we've not thought of that, you're very wrong." Danni retorted, "If they want to negotiate with me, get them online at 7." She went to hang up before frowning, putting the phone back to her ear, "Oh, and if you think converting Julie is just going to get glossed over, you are wrong." With a nod, she hung up. She sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Julie's been converted?" David asked grimly and she nodded, smiling apologetically.

"Sorry." She offered, "I wish there was something I could do about that. But I don't think you can just convert a Sleeper back."

"There's no point in focusing on what we can't change." Peter pointed out, "We need to stop it happening again, and from happening to Jenna. What do we do now?"

"Well, we need to get to the studio." Matt replied, "Get kitted up ready. Steven and the rest should already be there."

"Should we really have the companions in the video as well?" David brought up again, "I still think its overkill."

"There is no way the Doctor would turn up without gathering an army to get Danni back." Matt reasoned as the pair headed out of Steven Moffat's house and to David's car. Danni watched them go with a small smile, amused by their bickering.

"Ready?" Peter asked and she looked up at him, having not noticed he'd moved next to her.

"Nope." She replied, her smile faltering slightly, "Do you think he'll be here soon?"

"I think you should stop putting so much of your faith in him." Peter replied and she shrugged.

"I see it more as trusting in his abilities to blunder through and save the day, even when he doesn't think he can." She replied, "And if he doesn't, it won't change the fact I knew he tried." She smiled at him, "What about you?"

He held his arm out to her, "They're waiting on us, my pet." He purred and she took his arm, shaking his head.

"You've got to stop doing that." She scolded lightly as he led her out, locking the door behind them, "You're a married man, I just can't justify jumping you." He chuckled, holding the back door to the small, dark blue car open for her. She smiled gratefully, sliding in and pulling the door closed. Peter walked around to the passenger side where Matt was sat, opening the door.

"Out." He told him, "You're in the back."

"But I was here first!" Matt exclaimed in outrage.

"Yes, but you'll find I'm the adult here." Peter pointed out.

"I'm not a child!" Matt defended.

"_And_ I'm the oldest of the Doctors. Pretty boys sit in the back."

"What about him?" He defended, nodding at David.

"It's his car." He reasoned, stepping out of the way, "Out." Matt stared at him, incredulous. Then, realising they weren't going anywhere until he got out of the passenger's seat, he sighed in frustration, undoing his seatbelt and climbing out.

"This is ridiculous." Matt grumbled, climbing in next to Danni, who was just listening to them, amused. The fact that she knew Eleven and Twelve would bicker like children probably made them a lot funnier than they should have been.

"Of everything that has happened lately, this is the only thing that has made any sense." Peter replied smugly, shutting the door and fastening his seatbelt. Matt did the same as Danni leant in closer to him.

"You get used to it." She told him, "Still not allowed to drive the TARDIS." She leant forward in between the two front seats, "How far away is Cardiff?"

"About 3 hours." David told her and she groaned.

"3 hours?!" She exclaimed, "You know, a small bruise of two really is worth not taking 3 hours to get anywhere." She flopped back into her seat, pulling her own seatbelt on, "And I miss not having to strap myself in." David turned the key, pulling out onto the relatively quiet street.

"Anyone would think you don't like my driving, Danni-Girl?" He teased.

"It's more of how long it takes to get anywhere." She replied, "It took me 4 hours to get to London! 4 hours! That's not a trip, that's a chore." She undid her seatbelt again, "I don't want to wear this stupid thing!" She moaned like a teenager, knowing how ridiculous it was to be this annoyed by a seatbelt. It was just another reminded that she wasn't in the TARDIS, and she felt like fighting against the fact.

"Danni!" The three men scolded in unison and she pouted, scooting over to the middle seat and strapping herself in with the much less restricting seatbelt that just went across her abdomen.

"Fine." She muttered, leaning on Matt's shoulder and closing her eyes, "Wake me up when we're there."

"You're going to sleep?" He asked her, "Aren't you too worried to sleep?" She shook her head.

"Nothing is too worrying to stop me sleeping." She told him, "I once slept outside Vincent van Gogh's house." Matt chuckled.

"Oh yeah, I remember that."

"I remember the Doctor finding you asleep in the doorway of the TARDIS." David called from the front, "It was a wonder you didn't fall out sooner."

"I don't think I've ever dreamt about you asleep." Peter added with a frown. The other two Doctor's obviously had different memories than he did, because different things happened, but both Matt and David seemed to have more in common than his did.

"Your Doctor doesn't really like to sleep with me." Danni explained, "He finds it more of a chore. He's much more the 'love and leave' type."

"Does that not bother you?" Matt asked, surprised. His Doctor had been so touchy feely, he used to feel embarrassed when he'd wake up. It was like watching your parents kiss, sometimes.

Danni opened her eyes, a sad smile on her face, "So much." She replied, "But then I remember what we had to go through to get this far, I'll take him not sleeping with me over him not being there at all any day." Matt wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer.

"That proves it, mine was obviously the best Doctor." He declared and Peter scoffed as David looked in the rear-view mirror, offended.

"Says who?" David challenged, "At least mine didn't marry her best friend first!"

"No, yours was just an arse to her." Peter retorted, "Mine actually does what he says he's going to do."

"Which is, apparently, leave her at Clara's for a year." Matt snapped, "I looked after her."

"Yeah, _that's_ why she regenerated." David scoffed and Danni closed her eyes again, smiling happily to herself as she drifted off to the bickering of the three actors, pretending that they were her husband once again.

_~0~0~0~_

Danni stood in front of the camera, centring herself so no one else was in shot. She flattened her dress down, trying to make herself presentable while she waited for the Daleks to join the live feed.

"I can't believe this is happening." She muttered, "Addressing the Daleks." The light blinked on and she straightened slightly as a shot of a group of three Daleks appeared on her screen, "Ah, all here are we?" She asked them mockingly, falling into the persona she'd been practising.

"_You are the Time Child._" One declared and she clapped slowly.

"Well done Dalek number 1." She retorted, "Correct. It seems you've been looking for me. Well," she waved her arms out, "Here I am."

"_We will lock onto your location._" Another Dalek replied, "_We will transport you onto the warship, where you will be converted_." She nodded slowly, looking thoughtful.

"Well, that _does_ sound delightful." She agreed sarcastically, "However, I just thought, before you did anything hasty, you'd like to meet my friends." With a nod to John, the camera zoomed out and David stepped into view, hands in his trouser pockets, pushing his overcoat back.

"Hello, Daleks." He greeted, "Remember me?"

"_Doctor!_" They all began screaming, "_The Doctor has been located!_"

"Enough!" Danni shouted angrily and they actually seemed to listen to her, which was surprising, "Yes, he is the Doctor. He's stopped you before and he'll do it again. But you know who else I have?" Matt stepped forward, rocking on his heels.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor." He greeted, "And this is my wife, Danni. Did you really think I wasn't coming for her?" His voice hardened, "Did you really think I would take kindly to you threatening her?"

"_Two Doctors detected!_" One Dalek exclaimed, "_Explain, explain!"_

"Two Doctors?" Danni asked, confused as Matt took her hand, pulling it up to kiss her palm just like her Theta used to do, "I don't see _two_ Doctors." And with that, Peter stepped up, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her against him.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor." He told them, "Nobody scares my wife. Basically, _run._"

"_End transmission!_" The Daleks demanded, "_End transmission!" _And the screen went black. Danni laughed happily.

"Oh, that was wonderful!" She cheered, only feeling the aftershocks of transportation as she landed, stumbling slightly. Peter's grasp steadied her as they all looked around the metal room in confusion.

"Where are we?" David asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say the Daleks found us." Peter drawled, "I think they've beamed us up to the Dalek mother ship." Her grip tightened on Matt's hand.

"We weren't supposed to be here." She muttered, "We weren't supposed to get this far. What do we do?"

"Well, let's fall back on a classic." David decided, smirking wolfishly, "Run!"

_~0~0~0~_

The Doctor put the brakes back onto his TARDIS, making sure she hovered in just the right place in space and time, the place that his wife had fallen out of the TARDIS doors, disappearing once again. Since then he hadn't stopped looking for her, Clara hadn't been home in weeks but she didn't really care. She wanted to find Danni almost as much as he did. She watched him think back to that moment, drifting off into the memory, and she rubbed his arm for comfort. He looked down at her, his grey-blue eyes holding so much sadness as he shrugged away from her.

"We know where she is now." Clara reminded him gently, "We can get her back."

"If she'll want to come back." He muttered quietly. The moment he realised where she'd ended up, back in her old universe with her parents, he'd been convinced that even if he made it to her, she'd not want to come back.

"She's not going to want to leave you." Clara reminded him, "She loves you, Spaceman. You know that." He nodded once, because he did know that. However, he just wasn't sure it was going to be enough this time.

Instead of confronting it, though, he turned his monitor on, opening the communication line,  
>"Ready?" He asked the split screen that appeared.<p>

"As I'll ever be." His Tenth self replied, flicking a few switches, "Shields up to maximum, links are set."

"Universal parameters are set, engines up to full capacity." His Eleventh self replied, locking eyes with his future body, "Let's go get our wife."


	4. Chapter 4

_I should have also pointed out that his is sorta AU, sorta not. It's hard to explain, but it'll become more apparent at the end of the story :)_

_~0~0~0~_

Matt kept hold of her hand as they all dashed out of the room, only to end up in a metallic hallway. Everything was apparently uniform, because Daleks had no imagination so why would it be anything but practical? It stretched out either side of them, both turning the same direction at the ends but giving absolutely nothing away about their location.

"What do we do?" Danni asked all three of them, "We're running, but where? We're in space, we can't get back!"

"We need to hide." Peter replied, "We're still stalling, so we have to make sure we're keeping them looking without actually being found."

"So, which way?" She asked.

"Left." David decided.

"Right." Matt replied at the same time and it just highlighted the fact that none of them knew what they were doing.

"Okay, okay." Danni started, closing her eyes as she thought, "We need to keep the Daleks chasing us to keep them occupied. They're still going to go through with their little plan, so we need to find any humans they have up here and make sure they aren't converted. We also need to try and let the outside world know we're here, so when the Doctor decides to grace us with his presence, we can let him know we're here." God, how the hell were they supposed to do that? "Oh, we're going to have to split up, aren't we? That's never good, you should never split up!"

Peter nodded, hating the idea as much as she did, but they had more of a chance looking in different places, "Right, Matt, you go right. David and I will go left. Whatever you come across first, deal with it." The other two men nodded while Danni beamed, proud of him for taking charge so readily, "Don't do anything stupid, none of us are actually the Doctor."

"Okay, let's get this over with." David finished with a grin, "Allons-y!"

"Come on, Danni." Matt stated, pulling her gently with the hand he was still holding.

"Come along, Danielle." Peter said, having already grabbed her hand to make sure she stayed by his side. Danni yelled slightly at being tugged in two directions, but both men didn't acknowledge it as they stared each other down.

"She's coming with me." Matt told Peter simply, like it wasn't up for discussion.

"You're a child, she's coming with me." Peter replied.

"What? And you're going to keep her safe?" Matt scoffed, "if I'm a child, you're an old man." Danni turned to look at David, an amazed look on her face as the two men continued to argue in the middle of the Dalek ship's hallway.

"What's going on?" She asked quietly, "Are they really arguing on a space ship?" David rolled his eyes before walking over, planting a hand on each of her shoulders.

"Easily settled, I'll look after her." David decided, "Coming, Danni-Girl?" She beamed and nodded, letting go of the other men's hands as the pair left the two other 'Doctors' gawping after them.

"That was surreal." David told her as they turned left, heading left again down the next crossing they came to.

"I didn't know I was so desirable." She replied as they fell slower until they were walking, "Thankfully you're not like that. Ten never was, either."

"Oh, I don't know." David replied thoughtfully as he peaked in the circle window on the first door they came across. There were a couple of Daleks in there, so he quickly ducked back out of the way, "I remember him finding you trying to saw your arm off. I think if he'd come across another version of himself after that, he'd've bitten their head off."

"Really?" She asked, genuinely surprised and he nodded. Above them, flashing red lights and a screeching noise indicated an alarm being sounded.

"That'll be us." David declared, holding his hand out. A tempting wiggle of his fingers and Danni was being dragged along the corridor. Just up and to the left of them, one of the automated doors opened and two Daleks wheeled themselves out.

"Doctor located! Doctor located!" They screeched, just out of time with each other and David and Danni skidded to a halt.

"And the other way!" He cried, both of them narrowly avoiding being shot at as the Daleks gave chase.

_~0~0~0~_

The room was dark, which seemed like a good sign. David ushered her in first, glancing behind them for Daleks before closing the door. Danni was still not sure why Daleks insisted on splitting their ships up into different sections, surely it would have been easier for them to get around in one, large, open-plan ship?

At that moment, though, she would have thanked them personally if it wasn't for the fact they were the ones trying to kill her and David. They both dashed over to rather large console-like device, with a large sphere obviously for Dalek operation and a large screen with nothing on it, crouching to the floor and hiding behind its thick base.

"Did they," she paused, panting, "see?" David shook his head.

"I don't think so." He replied uncertainly, almost doubled over as he tried to catch his own breath, "Wow, how does he do this all the time?" He was never one for feeling old, but every part of him hurt and he could barely breathe, "Seriously, how _does_ he do this all the time?"

"I have no idea." She gasped in reply, "I can't. Bloody Time Lord Biology."

"But you are a Time Lord." He pointed out and she shook her head.

"Part human." She reminded, "Two hearts, no stamina." They both jumped as the door opened with a '_whoosh'_, much like they did on Star Trek David noted, and they fell silent. Danni clung to his arm as they both tried to not breathe too loudly and he placed his free hand over hers. She looked down at it, then up at David's face, who was staring at the corner of the console like he was expecting something to come around it at any moment.

'_Theta_?' She mouthed, completely stunned by just how much like Ten he looked at that moment. David was actually the one who looked least like his incarnation of the Doctor, having aged just a little bit over the last five years, but at that moment she really couldn't tell the difference. The way he held himself, ready to run if he had to, hand grasping hers so she wouldn't be left behind. It all reminded her of later Ten, the last Ten she saw who'd told her he loved her.

The door closed again and there was no sign of anything having entered or left. Still, they stayed quiet and crouched down until they were positive enough time had passed, and Danni sighed sadly, falling against David as she relaxed.

"I hate this." She muttered, "All I want is to go home."

"Hey, we'll get you there." David promised with a smile, "We've just got to do the whole 'saving the world' nonsense first. I thought you'd be used to this by now." He peaked over the console, reminding Danni of the scene from Partners in Crime where he- the Doctor and Donna kept missing each other, "There's nothing here." He stood up, helping her onto her feet afterwards.

"I don't save the worlds. The Doctor does." She corrected, "I think I'm more of a reason that he does it." She didn't like that train of thought. Whenever she tried to figure out what she gave to their relationship, it became very apparent very quickly that she didn't do much at all. She was a comfort, sure, and a constant like he always said, but he was so much more to her. It made her feel incredibly self-deprecating, which she hated because for the most part she didn't really dislike herself.

"So, how did you get your wife to agree to this?" She asked him, "Even if she's been in the show, I'm quite surprised anyone would like their husband going up against Daleks."

"Actually, she was surprisingly okay with it." David replied as he poked the sphere control with a small frown of thought, "She was incredibly jealous that I got to meet you, though. I've been told you're to come 'round for tea."

"Really?" Danni asked happily, "I'd really like that." David turned, having expected her to politely decline, the Doctor didn't really do domestic so he'd expected her to be the same. They shared a bright smile then the room was illuminated as the screen came to life. They both jumped away in unison as it divided itself up into multiple images, spreading out into a grid formation. Danni was unfazed by the technology, but David watched it, amazed.

"Did you do that?" Danni asked and David shrugged.

"I just poked it." He defended and she giggled. Different views of the ship were displayed, obviously different cameras trained on different areas. In the top right was Matt looking very confused, hands in front of him just like Eleven when he'd touch something he wasn't supposed to. Danni tugged on David's sleeve, pointing just in case he'd missed it.

"Hey, look, it's Matt!" She exclaimed, waving like a child. Matt looked very confused, then slowly waved back, "Oh my god, he can see us!" David looked up above the screen, spotting a tiny camera in the corner.

"Up there." He told her, "Everyone can see us."

She grimaced, "Crap, that means the Daleks can too, right?" He nodded grimly. She turned back to Matt, holding her hand flat and using two fingers to run across it like legs before pointing at him, "Run, they can see you." She said aloud, even though he probably couldn't hear them. He shook his head, pointing at the screen that was in front of him before holding up three fingers. She frowned, then counted three across on the top row. It was just an empty room, so she went down one and gasped, "It's the hostages!" She exclaimed.

"Can you see Jenna?" David asked as they both examined the screen.

"No." Danni growled, "There's too many of them and the camera's too far away." She looked at the rest of the screens, "I can't see Peter, either. I hope he's okay."

"He's probably just better at hiding than us." David reassured her, "We need to get moving. We can't do anything here, neither of us are Daleks." She nodded slowly, looking back at Matt. She put both of her hands to her lips, blowing him a kiss before waving at him to let him know they were leaving. He shot her a smirk and a two-fingered salute and she and David dashed back into the hallway.

"Left or right?" She asked him.

"Well, we came from the left." He replied, "Let's head right." She nodded in agreement and let him pull her down the hallway.

_~0~0~0~_

John stared at the spot where Danni had just been stood, ready and waiting to make his big entrance in front of the camera as Captain Jack Harkness for the first time in entirely too long. One minute they were there, the next all four of them had disappeared in a shimmering blue light.

"Cut it!" Alex cried and Steven turned the camera off, ending the transmission. They all dashed into the middle of the make-shift set.

"Where did they go?" Billie asked, all made up ready to look like Rose. There hadn't been much in it, just a change into something much more comfortable, really.

"It must have been the Daleks." Catherine replied.

"Hold on, so they're up there with Daleks?" Billie exclaimed, "They'll kill them all on sight!"

"It's not like we can do anything." Alex pointed out, "We can't get up there without help, and I'm not up for calling a Dalek, are you?"

"We can't just not do anything." Billie argued, "They're up there with Daleks!"

"Let's finish the video." Freema suggested and they all turned to her, "Let's get it on the internet and let the Doctor know exactly what's happened. He still might be able to save them, and Jenna too." With a nod, John ran back over to the camera, pausing before hitting record. It had to be quick, too much information and it could be too late, or the Doctor might just ignore him.

"Doctor, my name is John Barrowman." He said purposefully, "You'll know me as Jack Harkness. The Daleks are here, and they've taken the men who play you. They've taken the actors and they've taken Danni. You have to save them." He turned off the camera again, quickly logging onto any social media account he could think of, "It's going to take a while to upload." He told them.

"I don't think it matters anymore." Alex replied and he turned around to see them all staring across the set. A wind with no source blew around them as a blue box materialized like magic. His mouth dropped slightly as it solidified and the door opened. Out stepped a man in purple, his brown hair in falling over one side of his face in a quiff, a bow tie around his neck. He seemed just as startled to see them as they were to see him.

"Oh, hello." He told them, "Hi, erm, you all look very familiar. Sorry, I was just looking for someone. Don't suppose you've seen her. About this high," he motioned to just below his shoulder, "Blonde hair, brown eyes?" They all just stared, completely blown away by the fact the Doctor was in front of them. He seemed to realise this and motioned over his shoulder with him thumb before clasping his hands together in front of him, "Ah, yes, the blue box..."

"You're looking for Danni, aren't you?" Alex asked and he nodded, blinking slightly in confusion. She looked like River, but she wasn't the Pond child, she was definitely just human. Who was she?

"River?" He asked slowly, testing the waters and she shook her head.

"No, I'm Alex. I play River on TV. We're all actors, and Danni came to us looking for help because we've all been on the show and we've dreamt about her for years." She explained, "She thought that with our knowledge of your universe we might be able to help."

"Help with what?" He asked, now looking suspicious of all of them.

"The Daleks." John replied and the Doctor spun to look at him.

"The Daleks?" He repeated and John nodded.

"She thought it would be a good idea to make them think that you were already here." He explained, "Because with three of you, there was a chance that the Daleks might at least stall in their plans."

"Why would there be three of me?" The Doctor asked nervously, "I'm right here."

"Because they're not you, they just played you on the show. David, Matt and Peter, they play your Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth selves." John continued, "But when they were making the video they were taken..."

"The Daleks have Danni?" The Doctor interrupted, suddenly looking a whole lot more serious than he just had been. The change in his focus was slightly startling, actually.

"You have to save them." He replied, "We can't get up there, they're trapped!" The Doctor stepped back, obviously about to run back into his TARDIS when another, stronger wind picked up around them. Another two TARDIS's appeared next to the Doctor's, from the left came Ten and the right came Twelve.

"Why are you still here?" Twelve snapped, "I was led to believe you actually cared about where she was?"

"Of course I do!" Eleven exclaimed angrily, seemingly not for the first time at the older incarnation, "This is where you told me she was!"

"Well, she obviously isn't." Twelve snapped, turning to look at them for the first time, "Who are these people?"

"Looks like your memory really is failing you, Granddad." Ten told him, catching Billie's eye and smiling fondly, "Hello, Rose."

"Billie." She corrected with a quick shake of her head. The three men really did irradiate something almost intimidating. You could really understand why people would do as they were told by them, "I just played her."

"Ah, sorry." He apologised, not questioning what she'd said at all, "So, where is she?"

"The Daleks have her." Eleven replied.

"Daleks?" Ten asked, surprised.

"They turned up just over a week ago. They've been looking for you, but when they realised you weren't here, they wanted her instead." Alex explained, "We were trying to trick them into thinking you'd turned up when they took her."

"Then why are we stood here nattering like old biddies?" Twelve exclaimed, "Come on, we'll take my TARDIS."

"Oh no, I'm going in mine." Eleven retorted, heading back into his TARDIS.

"No we're not." Twelve protested, "If you try and fly us there we'll miss by at least a hundred years. I'm driving."

"No you're not." Eleven called, dashing in before Twelve could stop him. The older Time Lord growled but stormed in after his previous self. Ten rolled his eyes and started to follow, only to notice the group of people step forward.

"You can't come." Ten told them, "It's safer for you here."

"You can't expect us to sit and wait to see if you save them." Alex replied incredulously, "They're our friends."

"There's already too many people up there." Ten argued, reaching into one of his impossibly deep pockets, pulling out a phone and tossing it to John, "Keep watch, if anything happens you think we should know, give us a ring." He headed into his future self's TARDIS, not in the least bit surprised to find Eleven flapping around the console and Twelve sulking to one side.

"You took your time." Twelve grumbled, "She's not actually Rose, you know?"

"I'm surprised you can remember her name." Ten retorted, "Your memory seems to be failing you these days."

"Stop arguing and help me get to my wife." Eleven interrupted before another argument could break out. Twelve did turn his attention away from Ten, but only to storm over to Eleven, glowering.

"She's _my_ wife." He retorted darkly. Eleven smirked smugly at him.

"Actually," He replied, flipping a switch, "I think you'll find she married me."

"We're all the same man." Ten stated in a singsong voice, wondering if his regenerations really had been so bad that it had rattled his brain.

"I'm the Doctor she's come from." Twelve said, "I'm her husband."

"Were you at the wedding?" Eleven asked, "Didn't think so." The TARDIS shook violently. The bickering stopped, all three men trying to pull her back in line as she speeded towards the ship.

"It doesn't like all three of us being here." Ten stated.

"She." Both Eleven and Twelve corrected and Ten rolled his eyes.

"She doesn't have much power left either." Twelve added, "She's going to struggle making it back."

"We'll fix that when we get Danni." Eleven dismissed as the TARDIS landed with an uneasy thud, "There, see? I can pilot her just fine!" Twelve rolled his eyes, pushing past his two younger selves.

"My Lord, you're a child." He declared, "How she ever fell for your 'pretty boy' face, I haven't a clue."

"At least I don't look like a magician!" Eleven cried, outraged as he followed him out, once again leaving Ten to watch them argue.

He just hoped when he got to finally be with Danni, he wouldn't be such a moron about it.

_~0~0~0~_

Right was a bad idea. Why did he have to suggest right? Danni pushed herself against a wall as a group of Daleks went zooming past, crying out her name in anger but not seeing her. She'd lost David when they'd come face to face with another group of Daleks and now she was wandering around a spaceship on her own, with no bloody clue on how to find any of the three men, or get back to Earth or get in contact with anyone. Basically she was reduced to hiding in the shadows and hoping someone would find her first. Not a Dalek, though. Hopefully the Doctor, but anyone who wasn't a Dalek would be a plus at this point.

Well, perhaps not Missy. Between a Dalek and Missy, she wasn't sure which she'd rather come into contact with. At least a Dalek would be quick.

A hand fell onto her shoulder and she stifled a scream, spinning around, hand raised to smack whoever had touched her. Peter grabbed her hand, stopping her just before making contact with his jaw.

"Danielle, really?" He murmured as she slowly let her hand fall to her side.

"Did you have to sneak up on me like that?" She hissed.

"Where's David?" Peter asked in reply and she shrugged, looking back around the corner.

"I lost him a while ago." She replied, "As far as I can tell he's alright, the Daleks just seem to have been chasing me instead."

"Why do you say that like it's a good thing?" Peter grumbled, taking a look down the hallway himself, "Have you found anything?" She shook her head.

"I think I'm just walking around in circles, if I'm honest." She told him, "I can't say I've noticed any difference between anything I've seen before. It's like it's just the same, long corridor."

"Me too." He agreed, "Come on, then." They both stepped tentatively into the next hallway, following the sharp angled corner right. At the end was a door, which is obviously where the Daleks that had been following her had disappeared into.

"Maybe we should head back that way." She suggested with a nervous giggle.

"There's nothing that way." He told her, "That's why I was heading this way."

"But there are Daleks that way." She pointed out, "What's through there except certain death? I thought you were against me getting killed!"

"If the Daleks are heading that way, there must be something there, correct?" He explained slowly, like she was an idiot and she glowered at him.

"Fine, Mr Fake Time Lord!" She retorted, motioning him to go first, "But if we die, you have to explain it to my husband."

"Stop being so melodramatic, Danielle." He scolded, walking close enough for the auto sensors to go off, shooting the door to the side and into the wall. They both peered in, but the Daleks seemed to have exited through another door across from them. The door had opened up onto a small platform that seemed to overlook another large room. They both walked forward to look downwards, Danni grasping his arm with both of her hands when she saw what was down there.

"Oh my god, it's the hostages!" She exclaimed loudly. The large crowd, at least a couple of hundred humans, all turned and looked up at the sound of a female voice above them.

"_It's the Doctor!_"

"_Look, it's the Doctor!_"

"_Oh my God, he's real!_"

The room broke into life, cheering and shouting for the actor next to Danni, who froze in surprise and slight fright.

"I'm not..." He whispered. Seeing all these people put their faith in him to save the day suddenly made him feel like a massive fraud, which was saying something for a man who played other people for a living.

"He's not the Doctor!" Danni shouted, sensing his unease and wanting them to leave him alone, "He's Peter Capaldi, but the Doctor is coming, I promise!"

"How do you know?" A loud voice called up.

"Because I'm his wife!" The crowd scoffted and she glared down at them all, "Hey, you're on a ship full of Daleks, how about we stop deciding what we think is real or not?" They fell to a quiet murmur of voices, which was good enough for her, "Jenna, you in there?"

"Danni!" She heard Jenna shouting before she saw her hand waving in the air.

"Come on, let the woman to the front people! Friends of the Doctor and all the rubbish!" Danni demanded and the crowd slowly parted, allowing the brown-haired actress to come to the front, "Are you okay, sweetie?"

"Fine!" Jenna shouted up, "Is the Doctor really coming?"

"I bloody hope so!" Danni replied, "Is there any doors or anything to get through down there?" Jenna shook her head.

"Not that I can see."

Danni nodded, of course there wasn't, "Right, so reversing the teleport it is." She looked at Peter, "We can do that, right?"

"I wouldn't even know where to begin with that." He replied quietly, looking quite overwhelmed. She shrugged.

"We'll just find consoles and poke things until it works." She explained, "That's what the Doctor does half the time, I'm sure of it." Without waiting for an answer, Danni turned back to the crowd, "Ladies, Gentlemen and variations thereupon," She called down, "I believe we've all outstayed our welcome, don't you? Me and my wonderful friend Peter here are going to go look for a way to get you sent home. Try not to panic, and try not to do anything foolish. And if we can't find a way, the Doctor won't be far away. He'll save you all, so just hang tight!"

"How can you be sure?" Someone called up, echoed by a load of cheers. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't you listen?" She snapped, "I'm his wife and I'm on a Dalek ship. You think he's really going to just leave me here?" She turned to Peter, "I can see why he gets annoyed sometimes, you know? Listening seems to be a trait a lot of people lack!" She looked down at Jenna, "We won't be long, sweetie!"

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere!" She called back up, "I'm not an idiot."

"Good lass!" Danni praised, pulling Peter out into the hallway once again, "Right, so we're looking for a room with some sort of controls in. They've got sleeper Daleks, so they can't all be Dalek-friendly."

"You're seriously just going to poke things until they work?" He asked and she nodded, trying to decide which way to go. That way was back the way she'd come. Well, she thought so anyway. And that way was the way Peter had appeared, maybe that was the best way to go.

"I don't see what other choice we have." She replied. But then again, she'd been running for a good portion of it. She'd not had a chance to look in anywhere. Yeah, that was probably the best way to go after all. She started walking, Peter falling into step quickly by her side, after all he did have much longer legs than she did, "We need to at least try to save them, right?" He couldn't argue with her there. Seeing all those people looking up at him in hope, like he could save them all had actually hit her harder than anything that had happened so far. He didn't know what to do, they were basically working off a half-formed idea with zero knowledge behind it. All those people, looking at him like he was their lifeline. What could he do? Was this how the Doctor always felt?

"I have a question." He declared, deciding to take his mind off the lives riding on him and turned his mind to the ginger woman in front of, "It's been bugging me for a while."

"Shoot, sweetie." Danni replied, opening a door and finding nothing but spare Dalek parts, "Oh, I did always wonder about that." She muttered.

"How did you get away from Missy?" He asked her and she paused, back straightening as the image of the woman laughing flashed through her head, "I dreamt about what happened during that episode."

"It's a long story." Danni dismissed quickly, "I can't remember where I started running from." She explained, "But there were a few places I had to dismiss to, you know, not die." Peter nodded, frowning slightly.

"That makes sense." He agreed before going back to his question, "But the Doctor saved you, right?"

"Of course." She snapped back, "He always saves me. That's why we know he's coming now."

"How?" He asked, "I mean, you were hidden quite well, if I remember correctly."

"It's a long story." She dismissed again, "Look, he saved me, I'm fine and away from that terrifying woman. How about we drop it?" She opened another door, her heart pounding as the fear she'd felt trapped in that little room, all alone, came back to her. She'd spent most of her time during her time with Missy alone, except from when that door opened and that was infinitely more terrifying...

There was a person in the room, who spun on his heels, alarmed. Matt pulled out his prop screwdriver and pointed at them in reflex and Danni rolled her eyes, silently thanking everyone and everything that he was there.

"It's a toy, what are you going to do with it?" She teased and he lowered it, blushing slightly.

"It's reflex." He grumbled in embarrassment and she shook her head.

"Found anything useful, Spaceman?" She asked and he turned back to the control panel. He'd not moved since she and David had appeared in the corner of the many screens. He'd seen them get separated, but he'd actually managed to get the Daleks off Danni's trail by sending them after a false location report. He'd gotten quite good at using the controls, many of which had no labels or much difference between them at all.

"I saw David heading west on his own." He explained, motioning to the screen in the middle of the left-hand column of images, "I managed to send the Daleks following him towards the north instead." He was basing the directions off which way he was viewing them, but as he had no way of comparing, they would do for now, "The Daleks that were following you are following another sighting of you over here," he pointed to a screen that displayed what appeared to be the main control room, "I'm just sending them fake points so they've been directed away from." Danni looked up at him, completely amazed.

"That's brilliant!" She exclaimed, "How the hell did you manage to work that out?" He shrugged.

"Just prodded a few on the controls to see what they did." He replied, "I somehow managed to hack into their internal communication for the ship. It's not the hive mind, but it's keeping them all in contact." Danni turned back to Peter, looking smug.

"Just prodded a few controls, eh?" She said pointedly and he sighed at her.

"Showing off, Danielle." He warned, joining the pair on her other side, "What about the holding room for the humans? Have you found anything to do with that?" Matt shook his head.

"Not anything I can understand." He replied apologetically, "But," he pressed a couple of seemingly random buttons, "I did find this." Two of the screens disappeared, replaced by two shots of the same room. It had what appeared to be full of upright medical tables with straps, wires dangling off them.

"That's the conversion room, isn't it?" Danni asked quietly, all happiness at Matt's new-found abilities gone. He nodded solemnly.

"No one's been in there yet." He promised her, glancing over to see her looking disturbed. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her up against his side, "If we can find a way to cut the power to it, no one can get converted, right?" He offered. She nodded slowly. It reminded her too much of the table the Silents has strapped her to when they'd flooded her mind with the four-beat drumming.

"I guess." She muttered, "I'd be happier if I knew they couldn't get the hostages out in the first place, though."

"Can you deadlock the doors?" Peter asked Matt, "They'll be trapped in there, but the Daleks couldn't get in either." Matt shrugged.

"I have absolutely no idea." He replied before grinning, "But let's give it a shot!" He pressed a couple of buttons as an empty room appeared in the middle screen, slightly bigger than all the rest, "Right, er," he pressed a couple more buttons, but that only served to zoom in on the camera, "nope. What about..." He moved across the control panel, pressed a couple of blue keys and the lights flashed in the room before the door seemed to slam down. A large exclamation mark appeared inside of a triangle, all yellow with the world 'DEADLOCK' flashing along with it.

"That was... surprising easy." Danni commented, surprised. Peter nodded in agreement.

"That was incredible luck." He agreed. Matt just smirked smugly, spinning on the spot before fixing his bowtie.

"Oh, I am good." He crowed, "I am _magnificent_." Danni giggled, oh, he was adorable. Just like Theta had been, in fact.

"Do we have a feed of the hostages?" Danni asked Matt, who nodded, bringing it up on the centre screen, "Okay, Peter, go tell them what we're going to do. We'll watch from the monitor and we'll only do it when you're out." He nodded, turning to head out when she grabbed his arm, "Please be careful, yeah?" He opened his mouth to ask her exactly what else she thought he was going to be, when he saw the fear in her eyes. She was terrified for him, and the insult died before it had even formed. He patted her hand, gently removing it from his arm.

"I'm quite capable of looking after myself_, my pet_." He scolded and smirked at the small, sharp intake of breath from her. He might not be able to save all the rest of the humans, including Jenna which was hurting him more than he'd like to admit, but he could keep her calm and safe, "I'm more worried about you stuck here with pretty boy." Matt gasped, turning around and looking deeply offended.

"Pretty Boy?!" He exclaimed and Peter shrugged.

"If the bowtie fits." Danni giggled as he left, heading towards the room.

"He's meaner than I remember." Matt grumbled and she took his hand, giving it a squeeze in comfort.

"He's just jealous." She promised and he nodded.

"That has to be it." He agreed, "I mean, I'm your favourite Doctor, right?"

"You know you're all the same man, right?" She pointed out and he nodded.

"But I'm your favourite, right?" She sighed, chucking her hands up in the air.

"Sure, you're my favourite." She replied, having long given up this argument. Twelve had been just as bad about it, she was used to him fighting with himself.

"Knew it." He replied, turning back to the screen to see Peter head into the large holding room, "Ah, here we go."

"_Doctor_!" Danni screamed in surprise as all the screens changed into one, large picture. There was a group of Daleks parked in the middle, all staring at them through whatever camera they were using, "We have found the Doctor!"

Danni clung to Matt's arm as she glanced at the door, "Well done." Matt drawled, "Taken your time, haven't you Dalek?" She looked up at him, surprised at just how quickly he slipped back into the persona once again, "Sending your little army after me?"

"You and the Time Child will be brought to us, where you will be exterminated!" It replied angrily.

"Ah, well, that's where the problem lies, isn't it?" Matt replied as the door behind them opened. Danni spun and relaxed as Peter stepped in, eyeing the screen distastefully. Even though she was surprised he'd been so quick, she was so happy that he was there and not with the Daleks. If she only knew where David was, "You're not just up against me, are you? There's three of us, all here because you threated Danni. I thought you would have learnt by now."

"She is your greatest weakness." It told him, "She will lead us to your downfall." Matt felt Danni tense up at that and his eyes narrowed. He knew how scared she was of that, the entirety of his time with Clara had been filled with how terrified she'd been of being a weapon to be used against him.

"She is my wife." He snarled at every Dalek he could see on that screen, "She's my Danni-Girl and you threatened to hurt her. You tried to use her against me." He pulled her hand up, placing a kiss on the palm again, hoping it would relax her, "Quite frankly, I expected more from you, Dalek. Running into your own demise seems rather foolish."

"You are the Doctor." The Dalek replied, "You are merciful."

"Not when it comes to her." Matt promised. Danni spared another glance to Peter, who was still stood off to the side, channelling her husband perfectly. His stance, the way his had his hands in his trouser pockets, the glare, it was just him. No wonder he'd been such an easy cast.

"She will be the first to be converted." The Dalek replied before the transmission went dead. After a moment she turned to Matt, grabbing him by both of his arms and jumping up and down.

"Oh, you're so good at this!" She cried and he beamed, breaking out of her grasp to spin on the spot, clapping his hand.

"I can see why this is so addictive!" He rambled, "The adrenaline is wonderful. I feel like I could fly!"

"It's amazing isn't it?" She agreed, "And you can pull him off so well! We need to get you monologuing, then you'll be just like him!" Matt's heart was racing, this was the best thing he'd ever done. He'd loved his time on Who, and even though it was the right decision, he'd hated leaving the Doctor behind. But this was so much better, he was actually being the Doctor, he was fighting off real Daleks who were terrified of him, even if they wouldn't admit it.

He turned to Danni, stopping the energetic pacing he'd fallen into, and paused. Her wide eyes, the pink in her cheeks. She was looking at him like he was the most wondrous thing she'd ever seen and he could see why the Doctor showed off to her.

He didn't know why he did it, perhaps because he was building himself up to act like the Doctor, and it was what he would do next. It was like the Time Lord was rushing through his veins, and it was so addictive he followed along with the instincts just so it didn't disappear. Without thinking, he grabbed her, pulling her up for a searing kiss.

Danni didn't fight back, she closed her eyes and fell into it very quickly. Almost three years without the Doctor and to have him suddenly kissing her again… the fact that it wasn't really him didn't matter. His lips felt the same, the way his hands clutched at her hips was a feeling she'd not felt since he'd regenerated. He pulled her closer, their mouths moving in harmony and she let herself slowly fall into it, sucking on his bottom lip just slightly. God, it felt so nice to be touched again…

Then, suddenly, she was falling to the floor and Peter had Matt by his collar, looking absolutely murderous at the younger man.

"Keep your hands off my wife." He snarled, shaking him once for good measure.

"Peter, it's okay." Danni reassured, scrambling up and rushing over, "Let him go, its fine really. It's what the Doctor would do next, it's just him being in character." She was quite surprised, really, at his reaction. Peter was reacting just as the Doctor would, but they weren't being watched, so she didn't understand why he was being so angry. Then again, she was still rather surprised at Matt's reaction as well, perhaps they shouldn't have done this at all. She didn't want them to lose themselves to her husband, but maybe this along with the link had been too much. This was getting out of hand, these men didn't deserve to be turned into her husband just because she missed him. She shouldn't have kissed Matt back, she should have pushed him away.

She just missed him so much.

"Yeah, it was…" Matt started before trailing off, his eyes wide in shock, "Oh my god." Danni frowned as he stared over Peter's shoulder, not at all bothered about the way he seemed to be one step away from killing him. Danni frowned and followed his gaze to the door, where Peter also seemed to be stood. Her breath left her completely as she stared at the man in the door, the man who was most definitely was Peter Capaldi, who seemed just as shocked as she was.

She turned around slowly to see the man next to her letting go of Matt, his grey eyes burning into her. Her mouth moved as she tried a few times to actually say something, but she couldn't find her voice. She stopped and tried to take a deep breath.

"Theta?"


	5. Chapter 5

_God, I hope this is okay. I wanted it to seem a bit disjointed, but it might be a bit too much! Hope you all enjoy it, anyway :)_

_~0~0~0~_

Danni's heart felt like it had stopped in her chest, the world freezing around her as she tried to make her brain actually accept the fact that he was there, in front of her. Not Peter, not an image, her husband was stood in front of her for the first time in almost three years. Three long, devastating years. Years of her doubting every memory, having people tell her time and time again what a fantastic 'character' he was, how her entire life had been a dream that came from an accident. Daleks meant nothing. Matt, who was panting out of relief as he realised he was safe, melted into the background along with anything else.

"Theta?" She whispered again, reaching out slowly to touch his chest, her fingers splaying out on the white shirt. The Doctor didn't move, just watched her as she paused for a moment, feeling the dual heartbeat before she pulled her hand away like she'd been burnt. She didn't get far, his hand shot out and caught her wrist, pulling her against him with force, making sure she had no room to protest as he pressed his lips on hers. Her eyes widened as he coaxed her into a response that was entirely too brief in her opinion, a kiss that was obviously there to wipe out any trace of anyone else.

"Are you quite alright, my pet?" He whispered into her ear. She nodded silently and he turned, nodding once before grabbing Matt, slamming him against the wall once again.

"Doctor!" Danni exclaimed as Peter dashed in and Matt yelled in surprise.

"Did you ever think I'd let you get away with touching my wife?" The Doctor growled, "Who are you?"

"Doctor, let him go!" Danni demanded, "You're being ridiculous!"

"Hey!" A voice exclaimed angrily from the doorway. Danni's head snapped around, slowly becoming overwhelmed by the appearance of doppelgangers. Eleven now stood in the doorway, looking outraged at Twelve's attack on Matt.

"Doctor?" She asked meekly and he smirked, nodding.

"Hello again, Danni-Girl." He greeted. He walked over, lightly running his hand over her hair as he did, "Put him down, we don't have time for silly fights." He reprimanded, shooting Twelve a look like he should have known better.

"He kissed Danielle." Twelve replied, shaking Matt again for good measure.

"Really?" Suddenly Eleven didn't seem too fussed about the attack on his lookalike.

"Is this really happening?" Danni asked Peter, "Seriously, the world's bout to end and they're fighting over _this_?" Peter shrugged, completely unsurprised by his Doctor's - his Doctor, like he had some claim to him - reaction to what had apparently gone on while he was reassuring the hostages that they were safe.

"Did you deadlock the door?" He asked and Danni groaned.

"No, of course not. Because that would have been the clever thing to do." She muttered, looking over at the two versions of her husband, neither of whom looked ready to let Matt go. The poor man looked terrified, but Danni knew the Doctor wouldn't actually hurt him, "Doctor?" She called but they both ignored her, "Oh, for the love of..." She growled, "I kissed him too, you know?" She almost shouted. Both Doctors turned to look back at her, surprised, "We don't have time for this." She continued, "There's people about to be turned into Daleks. David is missing somewhere and I'd really like this universe to not be decimated by some rogue Daleks with a grudge! Can you please let go of Matt so we can get going?" Eleven and Twelve shared a look, and Twelve reluctantly let Matt go. Danni shot them both a stern look as she pushed past them.

"The Daleks teleported them on board. Perhaps one of you could send the back to where they came from?" She didn't sound like she wanted an answer, and quite frankly she felt like a parent telling off her children as she smiled warmly at Matt, "Are you okay, sweetie?" She asked gently.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." He replied rapidly, obviously completely bothered by what had just happened but not wanting to admit it. He hadn't been expecting to be held up against the wall by the Doctor when he'd first met him, or attacked at all if he was honest, so he was having a little problem coming to terms with it.

She straightened out his shirt and bowtie, flattening it down as if it would make any difference, "I'm sorry about them. 2000 years and they're still so bloody childish." She shot them another look, making sure they knew how annoyed she was. How was it that he could make her go from elated to pissed in a matter of seconds?

"There, done." Twelve declared, straightening up, "I would have been quicker if _somebody_ wasn't poking the controls." He nodded pointedly to his Eleventh self, his actual previous body and not Matt, who glared at him openly in return.

"If you hadn't have tried to reverse everything I was doing, I could have sent them off just fine." Eleven pointed out.

"You're talking as if you know what you're doing." Twelve mocked, "You're a child, let the big boys handle this while you bounce about in your bowtie."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I am not a child!" Eleven ranted.

Danni stood in between Peter and Matt, the three watching the pair argue back and forth, as if they weren't on a Dalek ship. She squeezed her eyes shut, fingers on her temples.

"Oh, this is going to be the death of me." She moaned and Peter looked down at her with a frown.

"What do you mean?"

"There's too many of you." She muttered just as another alarm rang above them, flashing red yet again and adding to her headache, "Oh, what's that one for?" She shouted over the incessant ringing.

"Because we sent the humans back." Twelve retorted, "Did you think they wouldn't notice when their livestock disappeared?"

"We need to get to the main control room." Eleven declared, looking over all the monitors, "If we can find the hole which they flew through, we can shoot them back again."

"What about David?" She asked.

Twelve shook his head, casting his own glance at the monitors, "We don't have time for that-"

"_Him_. And yes we do!" Danni interrupted.

"We don't have time for him," he corrected with a bit of a sneer, "We've got to run."

"Run?" Matt asked.

"From the Daleks." He retorted, his tone showing just stupid he thought the younger man was, "Danielle, your penchant for pretty boys is starting to reflect badly on you."

She growled, "You're the same man!" She exclaimed, "Shouldn't we be running?"

"Yes." He grabbed her hand, and so did Eleven and suddenly she was being pulled from both sides yet again.

"Let me go." She said quietly, but neither of them noticed.

"Let go of my wife." Twelve demanded.

"She's my wife too." Eleven snapped, "You let her go!"

"I'm the Doctor she's with. She's my wife." Danni yanked her hands from their grasps, storming forward and grabbing Matt and Peter's roughly.

"Daleks, remember?" She snapped, "Run!"

_~0~0~0~_

They were still bickering and she was about to go looking for a Dalek to beg that it put her out of her misery. Peter and Matt kept glancing at each other, not only slightly uncomfortable by the fighting, but by the fact that they'd also had the same argument.

"You're not a child." Peter told him lowly in the hopes that the two Doctors wouldn't hear them.

"You're not an old man." Matt retorted, looking down at the red head who was in the middle of them, "Are they always so..."

"Idiotic?" She snapped, "Yes." She glanced over her shoulder, "Seriously, are you two going to argue the entire time?"

"I'm not arguing." Eleven replied instantly, "It's not my fault he isn't able to grasp this. Honestly, I didn't think I'd actually lose my memory to old age, I shall have to try better."

"Oh lord." Danni breathed, turning around the corner to come face to face with three figures.

"Doctor?" She asked, surprised as both he and David beamed back at her.

"Look who I found!" Ten crowed happily.

"It's really him!" David replied, almost jumping up and down like a fanboy. He'd been trying to find Danni, doing a terrible job of it if he was honest, when the door opened to the room he'd been hiding in. Just like a shot off the show, the Doctor had been stood there, light shining behind him, making him almost look like a shadow. Of course, there's also been...

"Clara!" Danni cried in sheer relief, dashing forward and hugging her friend tightly. Clara laughed, hugging her back before becoming slightly concerned by how Danni didn't want to let go.

"What's happened?"

"They keep arguing." Danni almost sobbed, "I can't take it! There's too many of them and it's been too long!" Clara looked over at the two Doctors and their doppelgangers and the foursome stepped back slightly at the glare.

"_Doctor_." She started in warning.

"We don't have time for this!" Matt exclaimed suddenly, taking them all by surprise, "We need to get to the control room, right?"

"Then why are you heading this way?" Ten asked, "Control room's that way." He pointed back the way they came, "It's where we were heading."

"No, it's that way." Matt replied, a frown on his face and Ten shook his head.

"Oh, going the wrong way?" Twelve scoffed, "Why am I not surprised?"

"You were the one following me." Matt retorted.

"Can we please stop arguing?" Peter snapped, "We're going to get killed if you lot can't pull it together." He motioned to Danni, "Look at the state she's in. We need a plan, now."

"We have a plan." Ten told him, agreeing with him as he rubbed Danni's arm in comfort, "The TARDIS is parked next to the control room. We get back there, find out exactly how they came through and use the TARDIS to reverse it."

Peter nodded, "Okay, and where's the control room?"

"That way." Matt replied, nodding down the way they were going.

"It's that way." Ten replied, nodding the way they'd just come from.

"Well, which one is it?" Clara asked.

"They're both right, technically." Eleven replied, "Circular ship, eventually you'll hit the control room."

"Okay, which one's quicker?" Clara asked him.

"We'll split up." He replied, "Half go one way, half the other. First ones to the TARDIS wins, as it were. Doctors one way, non-Doctors the other."

"I'm not leaving Danielle with them." Peter retorted and Ten sighed.

"Fine, Clara, are you okay to go with these lovely gentlemen?" Clara nodded, forcing Danni to let go of her.

"Will you be okay?" Danni shrugged.

"Can't be any worse."

_~0~0~0~_

What a stupid thing to think. It was her own fault, after all she'd tempted fate by saying it was fine. It was never going to fine, and she was still being pulled by two different Doctors as Ten tried to locate the control room.

"Let go of her hand." Twelve snapped, pulling her closer as Eleven's eyes narrowed.

"She's my wife too." He pointed out.

"Not anymore." Twelve retorted, "You upped and died, didn't you?"

"Please stop it." Danni cried, "Honest to God, I can't take this anymore."

"You're right." Eleven replied, "This is ridiculous. We've got to focus on the Daleks."

Twelve nodded, "Fine." He grumbled and Danni looked up at Ten.

"And you're sure she's around here." He nodded.

"Can't be far, now." He promised and they finally fell into a quite walk. Danni had dreamt about multiple Doctors, most of the dreams weren't innocent if she was honest with herself, but none of them were this bad. Although, she supposed, this made a lot more sense than anything she came up with in the dead of night.

"By the way." Eleven told her lowly, smirking, "I love the retro look." She looked confused before realising what she meant.

"Yeah, I woke up like this." She explained, running her hand through her hair, "I have to admit, it's nice being a ginger again."

"I adore your other body, but I have to admit it's nice to see this one again." He dipped by her ear, "Yowzah." She giggled, blushing.

"That's enough flirting." Ten warned, "Just in here." The door opened, revealing a large room, a control panel running along one wall and about twelve Daleks sat inside.

"The Doctor!" One cried, "We have found the Doctor!" The door shut behind them, Danni spinning around in surprise.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

_~0~0~0~_

Danni remembered the holding cells from Davros. There had been calls for them to be contained, and the moment the beams dropped from the ceiling, Eleven pulled her up against him, trapping her in with him.

"Well done, you've caught us." Ten taunted, "Now what?"

"We will address the humans." One Dalek explained, "We will show them that we have the Doctor, that there is no hope. They will surrender to us, and we shall convert them all."

"Oh, how original." Twelve scoffed, "You never do come up with any fresh ideas, do you?"

"Taunting the Daleks?" Danni asked angrily, "Really? Is that appropriate right now?" She turned to the Daleks, "How do you even know they're the real Doctors? There's three men running around your ship right now who look identical, how do you know you've got the right ones?" As if she should have known, a shimmer ran down the beam Ten was caught in and he screamed out in pain as it ran over his body, "Doctor!" She screamed, running into the edge of her and Eleven's holding cell.

"Woah, that was bracing." He mocked, cracking his back. That would smart in the morning.

"Scans show binary vascular system." Another Dalek replied, "The humans will be hunted and exterminated."

"You can't!" Danni cried, "Leave them alone!"

"Contact with Earth has been established." Another Dalek declared, "Prepare for broadcast!"

_~0~0~0~_

The whole world watched the Daleks declare their intensions, showing the humans their prizes. The Doctor, the only people who could have helped, were in their possession and the best option they had was to wait for their demise. John, who held the phone Ten had left him tightly in his hand, frowned as he looked at the three men and one woman trapped in blue beams of light.

"They've split up." He commented and Alex shot him a look.

"So?" She asked tiredly. She'd been trying to get in contact with her own family, they all were but the Daleks had cut off all communication. She just wanted to go home.

"Why are they all there?" He asked, "I mean, they obviously found them, 'cause Danni's there, but why would all the Doctors stick together? Surely they would have been better split up, not actors and Time Lords, but a mix of each."

"You know, that makes sense." Alex agreed, looking at the group again, "There was always a chance of getting caught, why would they not factor that in?"

_~0~0~0~_

Danni paced as much as she could in the small space allowed in the holding cell. It was all her fault, now Matt, Peter and David were being hunted and were probably going to be killed. She shouldn't have brought them in, and now there was nothing she could do about it.

"Stop worrying, it's becoming irritating." Twelve snapped and she glared at him.

"They're in danger!" She snapped in reply, "I'm allowed to be worried."

"You're just worried that you won't be able to get another snog out of your pretty boy friend." He retorted and her eyes narrowed, her worry turning into a pent up anger she's been feeling since she realised that she was stuck back in her old universe.

"Three years." She snapped and he frowned.

"What?"

"Three years I've been here." She explained slowly, walking over to him, "Three years of thinking you weren't coming for me, in a universe where you don't exist! So, a Doctor kissed me and I kissed him back! I'm sorry, I cracked!"

"No, that can't be right." Twelve retorted, "A couple of weeks, tops."

"No, it hasn't." She retorted angrily, "It's been three years and I know it's not exactly easy getting across universes, and you probably didn't know where I was and I get that, but at least you knew you were coming for me."

"I'm always coming for you." He looked grim but almost unaffected, but she knew better and she couldn't look at the devastation that raged in his eyes.

"You didn't exist." She reminded sadly, "I'm back in my first body. I'm," She shrugged, "I'm just not as strong as you are."

"Don't be daft." She looked over her shoulder at Ten, "Look at you, still fighting even though you didn't have to anymore."

"Badly." She retorted, "We're trapped in these stupid holding cells, again." She held her hand out, the barrier in front of her rippling like it had done with Davros, but this time it seemed a lot let pretty.

"There's something you've got to remember, though, Danni-Girl." Eleven said from her side, squeezing her hand to get her attention. She looked up and he placed his hands on her hips, pulling her closer and dipping his head. He didn't go for lips, instead his breath tickled her ear.

"I'm not the Doctor." He told he lowly and she gasped, backing up slightly to meet his eyes.

"Matt?" She whispered and he winked, "But where..."

"With Clara." He explained, "Heading to the TARDIS." She leant slightly to her left, to look at her actual husbands.

"You knew?" She asked, "And you didn't say anything?"

"The less people who knew, the better." Ten explained, "Can't be giving away all our secrets now, can we?"

"It was inevitable one of our little teams was going to get caught." Twelve explained, "As long as we both headed to the TARDIS after setting up the necessary precautions, at least one Doctor would make it." She laughed in sheer disbelief, looking up at Matt with wide eyes, shaking her head.

"You are amazing." She breathed and he smirked, just like Eleven, tweaking his bow-tie.

"I am, aren't I?" He replied cockily but she didn't mind. He'd been brilliant, she'd really had no idea that he wasn't her Doctor.

"You can let her go, now." Twelve snapped and frowned, realising that he still had his hands on her hips. She placed her hands over them just as he was about to move them.

"Definitely not." She replied cheekily, "You definitely qualify as my husband, now."

"No he doesn't." Ten snapped, surprising them all, including himself, "Sorry, I don't know why I said that."

"_Daleks_!" A voice rang out happily through the room and Danni laughed again, this had gone from incredibly awful to incredibly bizarre in a matter of moments. The Daleks that had been watching them all turned their eyestalks upwards.

"The Doctor's companions have breached the communication relay!" One cried out, "Locate the source. Locate, Locate!"

"You really are complete fools underneath all the metal, aren't you?" Twelve taunted, "That's not a companion. That's the Doctor!"

"I believe you have my wife in there." Eleven's voice continued, "You should know better than that by now."

"Locate the Doctor!" They all began chanting, one of them wheeling itself over to the wall and using its suction pad to connect to the main computer.

"You'll never find me!" He almost cackled, "But you're all more than welcome to try."

"God, this has really gone to his head." Ten commented and Danni nodded, looking up at the ceiling to see if she could find where his voice was coming from.

"He always likes to make a scene." She replied.

"_I heard that, Danni-Girl._" Eleven called, sounding more teasing than hurt and she beamed.

"Good!" She cried, "Stop showing off and come get us!"

"_Right, of course."_ He replied and she shook her head. He was such a show off!

In the corner of the room, the TARDIS began to materialize. The Daleks noticed, but their bullets bounced off its shield, much like they had done back with Rose, when she'd been taken from Satellite 5.

When the Daleks realised that their attempts were a waste of energy, the fire slowly petered off and the Doctor finally emerged, flanked on both sides by the two men who played him in different lives.

"Are you quite finished?" He snapped, "I have people to save, places to be." He shot a glance over at Danni, "Danni-Girl?" He called.

"I'm fine!" She promised, "Amazed you managed to trick me, but fine!"

He nodded, looking grim, "Now, first we'll do this." He pointed his screwdriver to his left, directly at the wall control the Dalek had attached itself to. With a squeal, followed by a spark on the wall, the holding cells disappeared, "Everyone in the TARDIS."

"Exterminate!" Danni gasped, horrified as one of the Daleks shot at Eleven.

Or, at least, tried to. The moment it had formed the first syllable, Eleven was pointing his screwdriver at the control panel. The Dalek was just as confused as she was when nothing happened, shaking its laser like it was a remote.

"Oh, very clever." Ten crowed, a grin on his face, "Let me guess, macrotransmission of a K-filter wavelength?" Eleven flicked the screwdriver in his hand.

"I've got an app for that." He replied smugly, "And now, for my final trick." He pulled out a small device that was obviously put together with stuff he'd found in the TARDIS. He chucked it in the air and alarms starting going off as it shot off a beam of blue energy.

"What the hell was that?" Danni cried as the ship shook once. Matt tightened his grip on her, looking around as he tried to work it out.

"Self-destruct." Twelve replied, taking her hand and pulling her towards the TARDIS, and away from Matt, "Everybody in!" They didn't need telling twice, everyone dashing in, six men letting Danni in first and she ran up to Clara.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" Clara exclaimed as she pulled Danni in for a hug, "You had me really worried."

"You worry too much about me." Danni retorted. Ten, Eleven and Twelve worked together while Matt, Peter and David cheered amongst themselves.

"We did it!" Matt cried, "We actually did it."

"The bloody Daleks!" Peter crowed, "We beat the bloody Daleks!" In a move that David had channelled perfectly for the show, he jumped, high-fiving the TARDIS front door and even though she was in mid-flight, she still managed to hum appreciatively.

"Oh, we are good." David remarked proudly, "We are so good!" Danni laughed at their enthusiasm and he motioned her over. She let go of Clara, dashing over and he pulled her in for a hug, "And it's all because of you, you beauty!" He lifted her off the floor and she kicked in the air, still laughing.

"Danni-Girl!" Matt exclaimed, taking her face in his hands when David let her go, "Look what you did! You stopped the Daleks."

"No I didn't." She giggled, hugging him anyway, "You were so good!"

Clara smirked as she spotted all three Time Lords watching Danni chatting and praising their doppelgangers. She leant in closer to Eleven, the Doctor she was closest to, "Aww, look at all of you being so jealous."

"I'm not jealous." He replied a fraction too quickly, "I don't have to be." Another glance at Danni had her rolling her eyes.

"You know why she likes them so much?" She started, "It's because they remind her of you." He took another look at Danni, who was smiling brightly as she placed a hand onto Peter's arm, but not in the same way she smiled at him.

"I suppose so." He commented, feeling better about her seeking out the men for the first time since he'd found her. The TARDIS landed with a small thud and he turned to Clara, smiling and holding his hand out, "One last run, Clara Oswald?" He asked teasingly and she nodded, taking it and they all rushed out into the car park to meet the companions, who had all headed out the moment the TARDIS had started to fly away.

Twelve wrapped his arms around Danni's waist and she sank into his embrace, head leaning on his chest as they all watched the sky. As she realised she'd not felt like this, this safe and loved for too long, there was an explosion, fire filling the sky and the Daleks were no more.

_~0~0~0~_

Ten and Eleven had disappeared first, both making sure that Danni knew just how glad they were that she was safe. Eleven had been slightly more amorous than Ten, hands buried in ginger hair that he'd always adored so much, so much so that Twelve had actually pulled him off her and pushed him into his TARDIS.

Then she, Clara and Twelve had dropped everyone home, companions first, and then Doctors. There had been some tears, all happy as Billie had told her that she was so glad she'd got to meet her. Freema had told her that while she was glad she'd met her, she was sure never seeing her again meant all was well with the universe.

John had given her a bear hug to rival Jack, saying he could see why Jack loved her so much and he hoped that she went to visit him soon. Alex had been a quick peck on the cheek and a wave.

Matt's mum had shouted at him for being stupid, then pulled her son in for a hug that obviously wasn't going to end for a while. Peter's wife had burst into tears and he'd barely had a chance to say goodbye before she dragged him into the house. Georgia had tried to get her to stay for a cup of tea, barely paying David any attention at all. Danni had promised next time, and Georgia had took it even though they both knew there wouldn't be a next time.

"I've just one question." David said as they were about to leave and Danni nodded.

"Anything." She replied.

"Peter mentioned what happened with Missy. How did you get away?"

"It's a long story." Danni dismissed, "Be good to yourself, sweetie."

Clara had left them to it after that, after all there was only one more place to visit. The TARDIS landed outside a house in North West England, where her parents were waiting to see if their daughter was okay.

"It's okay if they don't come, though, isn't it?" She asked Twelve as she chewed her thumbnail. The Doctor removed it from her mouth, his own thumb dragging across her lip momentarily, "I mean, at least this time I got to say goodbye, right?" He nodded, "And if they come, we can find them somewhere to live, can't we? A house on Earth, somewhere nice and warm, but not too warm because Dad never liked the warm and..."

"Danielle, you're rambling." He scolded lightly and she nodded.

"What if they don't want to come?" She shot back, almost crying with the feat that she'd never see them again, "What if they want to stay here? Their lives are here."

"Of course they're going to come." He retorted, "You are their lives, they'll go wherever you go." She nodded slowly, smiling a bit more.

"You're right." She replied, "You're right. You don't mind, do you?"  
>"Why would I mind?" He asked her, looking slightly baffled, "You're the one who's going to have to break it to River." Danni giggled, nodding and turning to head out the door.<p>

"I'll let you know how it goes."

"Just before you go." The Doctor called and she turned around, "How did you get away from Missy?" She rolled her eyes, amused by his need for her to pander to his ego.

"You saved me, of course. You always come back for me. I won't be long."

"How, though?" He pressed.

"It's a long story." She brushed aside and he stepped closer.  
>"Tell me it." He replied.<p>

"I was scared, you saved me." She summed up quickly, "What else do you need to know?"

"Humour me." He replied, "Imagine that I can't remember, and tell me."

"It's a long story." She brushed off again.

"And I said tell it to my anyway." He sounded almost desperate, like all he wanted to do was hear her say it.

"It's a long story." She brushed off again, realising that she couldn't bring herself to talk about it. She didn't even want to think about it, why was he bringing it up again? "I'm going to get my parents." She turned, heading to the door with a deep sense of panic building up inside of her.

"Tell me!" He shouted and she spun around.

"It's a long-" She shouted, calming down as she shook, "story. Why do I keep saying that?" She asked him, "Theta, why can't I say what happened?" He dashed over, taking hold of her arms and looking at her pleadingly.

"Please, you have to tell me." He begged her, "How did I save you?"

"You didn't!" She screamed back, jumping back from him as she started crying, "I... I don't remember you saving me. Theta, please."

"I'm sorry." He beseeched her, "I'm sorry, but you're asleep and if you can't tell me how I save you, tell me where you are." She shook her head.

"I don't know." She whimpered, "I don't understand. I was save, I fell out of the TARDIS. I was sent home!" She shook her head, "What's happening, Theta? Please, tell me what's happening because I'm scared and I don't understand and I came home and I saw my parents..." He took her face in his hands.

"I searched." He promised, "I'm still searching, I'm coming, I promise, but I can't find you. I went for help, I found my previous selves and we're using an entire galaxy to link to you. Tell me where you are, please."

"I've been here three years." She sobbed, "I can't still be with her, I can't!"

"No, it's been three years since she took you." He broke to her, "And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, just remember I'm coming." She wobbled, her head woozy but he caught her. He always caught her, "You're waking up." He told her before she asked, "If there's anything you know, Danni, tell me." The slip into her nickname showed how terrified he was. H'd tried so hard, they'd contstructued this fantasy for her, he needed to get something from it. He needed to find her.

She tried to think, her brows furrowing even as she felt the signs of the world around her melting away. She looked up at him, eyes shining and shaking her head, "It's not been three years." She whispered, horrified.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, "Remember, I love you and I'm always coming."

"No, you don't understand." She exclaimed, "It's been longer." He shook his head.  
>"No it hasn't." He insisted and she nodded.<p>

"I remember her taunting me it'd been ten." She explained, "I remember it, but it's not a new memory. How long have I been there?" He leant on her forehead, squeezing his eyes shut. He had to stay strong, he had to find her. She had to tell him where she was.

"And I regenerated." She breathed and his hearts broke, "She didn't like my blonde hair." He opened his mouth to reply.

_~0~0~0~_

Danni's eyes flew open and she backed away, head shooting from side to side as she tried to see him. Where did he go? Where was she?

"Theta?" She whimpered in a voice that sounded new but old at the same time. Her hands shook, deep brown hair falling in front of her eyes, a hint of a curl to it. The room was dark, the comfortable bed held no comfort and as the door opened, a deep-rooted, familiar feeling of pure terror fell over her and she pushed herself back, begging the figure that appeared, the woman dressed like Mary Poppins, to just let her go.


End file.
